https://www.mandyjdaniels.com/blogs/interviews.atomMJD - INTERVIEWS2019-03-27T12:13:00-04:00MJDhttps://www.mandyjdaniels.com/blogs/interviews/interview-kora2019-03-27T12:13:00-04:002019-03-27T12:30:15-04:00INTERVIEW || KORAMandy J DanielsI'm very pumped to bring you this conversation. Kora talks about his background, new project, his take on performing versus being in studio, what to expect from his four hour set this weekend here in Toronto and more!

]]>
I'm very pumped to bring you this conversation. Kora talks about his background, new project, his take on performing versus being in studio, what to expect from his four hour set this weekend here in Toronto and more!

The Mirrors event series showcases the deep and mystical sides of dance music and brings Kora and Jonathan Rosa b2b Sam Haze together for a day event this Saturday, March 30 (3-9PM) at Love Child Social House. Also, don't forget the afterparty - info below:) Enjoy getting to know Kora!

Can you tell us about your musical background?

Hola guys. I started playing the piano around seven years old and learned music theory in elementary school. At 12 years old, I traded the piano for a drum kit and started playing rock. I had weekly lessons and also started a little amateur band with my high school friends. My mom always played very colourful music at home, from world music to electronica, I think it opened my horizons to various genres. I discovered electronic music when I was a teenager and started DJing at 17. A few years later, I came to Toronto to follow my first music production course with the talented Adam K.

You recently started a label Saisons, can you tell us more about that? What is the sound and vision for the label?

Saisons is a passion project where my closest collaborators and I join forces to share music that is meaningful for us and where we have the freedom to create and spread a message through all means, including sound, visuals and experience. We are focusing on quality over quantity and we are in love with music that has a soul, a story and a movement.

Inspired by the cycle of life in the Boreal forest of Canada, Saisons is deeply connected to nature and our long term vision is to have a positive impact on our beautiful planet and the footprint we leave on it. Through music and experiences, we can connect with a lot of people, create bridges and inspire change towards more conscious behaviour. The team is organically growing and we are very excited for what’s to come in the green department of Saisons.

What can we expect from a four hour Kora set?

Four hours is a lot of freedom and plenty of time to go on a hypnotic storytelling adventure. I never know what direction it will take, but I know that the Toronto crowd has a great energy and it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’ll make sure to bring a few percussions and blend-in recently finished music!

What excites you about performing versus being in the studio?

It’s two very different, but complementary aspects, of music that I love to balance. The studio and composing is a very personal thing where I create or collaborate for the love of making music, learning and putting emotions and messages into sound.

The performance is the moment where I can share, connect and tell a story and where the music is used to move people, elevate the energy of the individuals and create a collective experience. I never really know where it will go, as I think my role is to be a reflection of where the crowd wants to take the journey.

Are there any upcoming Kora releases we should look out for?

I recently finished a remix for one of my favourite producers based in Spain - Pablo Bolivar - Edanna (Kora Remix). It will come out on Seven Villas on the 5th of April 2019.

Also, I’m very happy to welcome my good friend Gab Rhome to the Saisons family. We will release our first collaboration, Toboggan, on the 19th of April 2019.

What’s one track that never gets old for you, no matter how many times you hear it? Any thoughts on why that is?

No Love Lost by my talented Argentinian friend Facundo Mohrr.

It’s a timeless tune for me. There’s a beauty in its minimalism, emotions and also on the energy it creates in the rooms when I play it. That magical groove moves people instantly, anytime, anywhere.

Thanks for reading the interview and see you soon!

Thank you, Kora, for the lovely words and insight!

---

Check out the party(s) this weekend, have fun and take care of each other!

]]>
https://www.mandyjdaniels.com/blogs/interviews/interview-lost-desert2019-01-16T17:06:00-05:002019-01-17T12:46:20-05:00INTERVIEW || LOST DESERTMandy J DanielsA nebulous sense of mystique surrounds Belgian DJ and producer, Lost Desert - perhaps fitting as his sonic trademark is equally mystical, etheric and dreamy. After meeting All Day I Dream boss Lee Burridge at a party in Antwerp, the two began collaborating and their connection has since led to gigs around the world with the deep house brand. He makes his way this weekend to Toronto’s Love Child Social House, with support from local legends Jonathan Rosa b2b Sam Haze, for what promises to be a swirly affair - a welcome winter day party to coax us out of hibernation.

]]>
A nebulous sense of mystique surrounds Belgian DJ and producer, Lost Desert - perhaps fitting as his sonic trademark is equally mystical, etheric and dreamy. After meeting All Day I Dream boss Lee Burridge at a party in Antwerp, the two began collaborating and their connection has since led to gigs around the world with the deep house brand. He makes his way this weekend to Toronto’s Love Child Social House, with support from local legends Jonathan Rosa b2b Sam Haze, for what promises to be a swirly affair - a welcome winter day party to coax us out of hibernation.

Check out our moment with Lost Desert here as he talks about what to expect for his set this weekend, what excites him about performing versus being in studio, a track he never tires of, and upcoming news. See you Saturday!

Hi Patrick! Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us here at MJD!

Can you tell us about your musical background? What’s it like being a DJ from Belgium and now seeing many other parts of the world through the lens of performing?

Hi! First of all, a very Happy New Year! And thanks for inviting meonce more to Toronto. I started of listening to new wave way back in time, followed by twenty years of being a DJ in the better clubs in Belgium. It’s amazing to be recognized across borders now, playing my own music - so many souls we have touched and moved with All Day I Dream. It is heart warming and inspirational.

What can we expect from a three hour Lost Desert set?

In these 180 minutes I want to try some new music I have been working on - see how they flow and sound. And, of course, I hope to create an atmosphere which can bring warmth to our souls, let the sun shine indoors, fill the floor and connect with the people. All the things we do in a daydream.

What excites you about performing vs being in the studio?

The reaction and connection with the people.

Are there any upcoming releases we should look out for?

Lee Burridge and myself are working very hard on our album right now so that might be one to look out for! If you listen closely, maybe you can discover the album tracks I will be playing this weekend. There is also a vinyl release being pressed at this time for Shanti Moscow Radio.

What’s one track that never gets old for you, no matter how many times you hear it? Any thoughts on why that is?

Thats a tough one! Deep Burnt by Pete Bradock is one that comes to mind. It works for me any time, anywhere.

____

Thanks again to Lost Desert for taking the time to connect with us here today!

He is playing at Love Child Social House (69 Bathurst Street, Toronto) this Saturday, January, 19th. The day event runs from 3pm-9pm.

Currently based in Barcelona, hailing from Venezuela, DJ/production duo Sergio Muñoz and Israel Sunshine have toured consistently for six years, bringing Fur Coat’s dark, deep, layered sound to dozens of countries and thousands of fans. With critically-acclaimed releases, collaborations with artists including Sasha, Slam, Tale of Us, Nicole Moudaber and most recently Radio Slave, the pair have been a consistent fixture on the techno circuit and continue to grow as they focus on their label, Oddity, more releases and have an eye towards label showcases.

Currently based in Barcelona, hailing from Venezuela, DJ/production duo Sergio Muñoz and Israel Sunshine have toured consistently for six years, bringing Fur Coat’s dark, deep, layered sound to dozens of countries and thousands of fans. With critically-acclaimed releases, collaborations with artists including Sasha, Slam, Tale of Us, Nicole Moudaber and most recently Radio Slave, the pair have been a consistent fixture on the techno circuit and continue to grow as they focus on their label, Oddity, more releases and have an eye towards label showcases.

I had the wonderful opportunity to catch up with the pair recently. We talked about an upcoming EP on their label, their connection to Radio Slave (who provides a remix), habits and mindsets that have helped them to evolve as artists and find balance on the road, what always makes them happy and advice they’d offer someone wanting to pursue a career in this field.

Enjoy getting to know Fur Coat!

Hi Sergio and Israel, thank you for taking the time to speak with us here at MJD!

Thank you for having us!

You have a new EP coming out on your labelOddity, which includes a Radio Slave remix - congratulations! Can you tell us a bit about how that came about? Your production process as a duo and connecting with Radio Slave?

Yes! This is the last EP from us this year and we wanted to put it out on our label. We’ve known Matt for a while as some years ago we toured Australia together. We had a nice vibe going on from that day, so we connected and kept in touch. We have connected in several parts of the world and also we always talk about art, shop recommendations around the world, food and some other topics that we share in common. So aside from the good relationship, Radio Slave has always been an artist we admire and love his music. I think every time he releases new music, it’s probably in our sets. So finally after talking a while about it we found a track he liked from us, and the time was right to have him on board on the label.

You’ve been touring steadily for many years now - how do you maintain your balance on the road, and with the lifestyle in general?

Yeah, it’s been six years non-stop and we feel fortunate we have the opportunity to do this. Regarding the balance on the road I think you get it with the experience over the years. It’s just trying to eat clean, sleep well when you can, not over party when it’s not necessary and when we are at home during the week or during a tour try to do as much normal life as possible. Normal things like going to the studio, exercising and the other side of the business that no one sees from meetings to organizing a lot of things we aim to do over the year. Aside from that we always try to disconnect and do our hobbies or spend time with our wives, family and friends. Balance is the key to hold it together in this career, especially when you are flying so often and having constant changing patterns all the time.

Is there anything that would make your life easier when it comes to building your career or life on the road?

One thing we don’t do while being on tour outside of Europe, is being able to produce. We are fairly comfortable when creating music in our studios and we haven’t been able to transfer this to on the road. Of course being able to travel with your loved one’s such as your wife, is also good, as we spend so much time on the road. You want the most comfort as possible and the most similar environment as being at home, as in between airplanes and hotels you end up spending more time there than at your own home.

How have you both changed over the course of your career? Any thoughts or habits that have helped you to evolve?

Definitely! The road makes you mature. It’s a constant learning of not only music but life itself. You get to experience so many things and meet so many people who are also part of this evolution. You always have to have habits to keep it healthy. At first you probably say yes to all parties and don’t care about trying to drink less on a night or eat healthier or even exercise on the road. All these habits as well as sleeping the most you can even before a gig really help us on doing it more consciously and also feeling better in our minds, body and spirit.

What always makes you happy?

A good gig! A good reaction of the crowd to a new track from us. Good food from the places we visit, as this is something that when time passes by you can connect your memories to a certain place. Definitely our families makes us happy as well as seeing good friends you make on the road. You build up so many relationships through touring, that when you go to cities you always have a bunch of good friends - it feels like meeting up with friends from school, or that you grew up with almost.

What advice would you give someone who wants to pursue DJing and production?

It’s a difficult and competitive career, but you have to pursue your dreams. So if you believe in what you do and stay true to yourself, there is nothing impossible to achieve. One thing is that once you get into this for a career, it becomes a lifestyle that you really have to give your everything to. It has a lot of sacrifices, but at the same time all the rewards and, at least for us, it’s just priceless.

What are you looking forward to next?

We are always working on new music. For next year we have in the pipeline three remixes. One for Oliver Huntemann, one for Sasha and one for some new artists on Family Name Label. So now when we are back from the tour we are going to continue working on new music, aside from planning new stuff for Oddity music-wise, and hopefully trying to start showcasing shows!

Thanks so much again for the awesome insight and taking the time to chat with us here!

]]>
https://www.mandyjdaniels.com/blogs/interviews/industry-catch-up-secret-society2018-10-19T15:49:00-04:002018-10-19T19:55:34-04:00INDUSTRY CATCH UP || SECRET SOCIETYMandy J DanielsOver four years, Toronto’sSecret Society has grown their community through consistent events (187 weeks straight!), local programming, passion and an intention to unite house music lovers in unique, uplifting and inclusive environments. This Saturday, October 20th, they are teaming up with the Geary Avenue Warehouse Project to celebrate their fourth anniversary with some of the city’s best house music DJs. I caught up with the Secret Society crew to find out more about who they are, how they started, what underground culture means to them, and what's next. Check out our catch up here!

Over four years, Toronto’s Secret Society has grown their community through consistent events (187 weeks straight!), local programming, passion and an intention to unite house music lovers in unique, uplifting and inclusive environments. This Saturday, October 20th, they are teaming up with the Geary Avenue Warehouse Project to celebrate their fourth anniversary with some of the city’s best house music DJs. I caught up with the Secret Society crew to find out more about who they are, how they started, what underground culture means to them, and what's next. Check out our catch up here!

It’s your four year anniversary this weekend (congratulations!) can you tell us who Secret Society is and how it all started?

Thomas: It’s hard to define what Secret Society is because it’s constantly evolving with new members bringing fresh ideas and different perspectives. There’s one common thread between all of us though: our passion for music. People know us for it and they associate the name with quality music programming. I guess you could call us a label, but we hate labels, so we'll do anything to avoid being categorized. This is probably why we would do stuff like bring generators and a club-quality sound system to a beach that is a hazardous journey to get to, even if you’re only carrying a beach towel. And that’s pretty much how it all started. Three guys wanting to build a community around one ideal: the love of house music.

What does ‘underground’ mean to you? What in your opinion makes up underground culture?

MRKG: Underground to me means something different from the norm, something you have to dig a little deeper for, hence 'underground'. The cutting edge. People in underground culture are in a constant search for unique art and experiences.

Matt von Wilde: To me underground is synonymous with community, it goes far beyond its general meaning of a genre of music that isn’t mainstream. Underground culture is decentralized. It’s made up of different crews that work together in harmony to reach the same goal of a damn good event, populated by an amazing assortment of humans and booming sound systems. For me, underground is far beyond the norm.

Sierra: The term 'underground' in the electronic music scene goes hand in hand with safe spaces, in my opinion (although they really should be present everywhere). This scene was founded in the 80’s by LGBTQ+ individuals - particularly those of colour who sought a space to be who they wanted to be, to fuck who they wanted to fuck and to dance how they wanted to dance. Aside from playing music, preserving that freedom and openness that initially drew me to Secret Society is something I am always striving to do. And who better to do so than the only female within our collective?

Ded Pixel: There is a distinct sound, a steady flow to the underground, one that those who congregate around it can easily identify, and one that only those who have the patience and resolve for it can truly decode and appreciate. Patience and understanding comes with time and experience, hence the type of crowd and culture you get at underground shows versus mainstream shows.

Can you tell us more about the Secret Society community, the weekly Sessions parties and the programming in general?

MRKG: Secret Society is a radically inclusive collective of like-minded individuals, striving to bring quality music and uplifting experiences to Toronto. We also focus on the amazing local talent we have in our beautiful city, giving well-known and up-and-coming talent a platform to express themselves. That is really what Sessions is about for me.

Thomas: We don’t discriminate, and we don’t care about the hype. In fact, we try to avoid the hype. Let your music speak.

MVW: We operate under an “All gratitude, no attitude” principle for the weekly event. Sessions fills a void in the underground community in Toronto by providing a musical and social experience early in the evening from 6-10PM.

Ded Pixel: We continue to support Toronto local underground talent by providing them a respected musical platform to perform. In the four years that we've operated we've only ever booked an international twice. It's not who we are and how we identify as a brand. Anyone that supports locals supports us and our passion for the music.

MRKG: Continuing with the Sessions model of exposing our Toronto locals. Our 200th episode is coming up in January (it still amazes me how we have gone 187 episodes without missing a week!). We also have a bi-monthly residency at NOIR inside REBEL with the next event on Nov 17th, which we are really excited for.

And of course, our famous beach parties for summer 2019 in June, July and August. There are also plans to expand Sessions to several key cities in North America within the coming year.

MVW: We’re planning bigger, more unique venues with more art, custom stage design by the 4tress and a more immersive experience at our events.

Ded Pixel: Hopefully we can take this brand to other major cities and propagate this formula for supporting local talent that we have found. There is great underground talent everywhere.

Thomas: Secret Society is an entity. It doesn't belong to any single person. There are some of us who have worked for over four years keeping it real. There are also some members who only recently got involved on a deeper level. We're open to new ideas and we’d like to spread our influence because we believe that house music has a very special power to create a community. On the dance floor there’s no separation. We are all one and our hearts beat together.

Many thanks to the Secret Society crew for taking the time to share more of what they’re about here!

For more info about the 4 year anniversary celebration, click here. NB: Be sure to get a ticket online before the event as there won’t be tickets for sale at the door.

]]>
https://www.mandyjdaniels.com/blogs/interviews/interview-christian-smith2018-10-02T11:58:00-04:002018-10-03T16:28:52-04:00[INTERVIEW] CHRISTIAN SMITHMandy J DanielsA veteran artist who traveled through four continents last month alone, Smith gave us solid advice about finding balance amidst a heavy tour schedule. We also talked about evolving as an artist, thoughts for anyone wanting to pursue their passion creatively (producers check this out!) and candid views about what he feels would benefit the house music and techno industry currently.

]]>
As DJ, producer and boss of Tronic, one of the most dominant techno labels in the world, Christian Smith has spent decades honing his craft, touring, collaborating with some of techno’s finest artists, establishing a syndicated weekly radio show and releasing on his own and other high profile labels like Plus 8/Minus, Drumcode, Cocoon, Bedrock, Mobilee and more.

A veteran artist who traveled through four continents last month alone, Smith gave us solid advice about finding balance amidst a heavy tour schedule. We also talked about evolving as an artist, thoughts for anyone wanting to pursue their passion creatively (producers check this out!) and candid views about what he feels would benefit the house music and techno industry today.

We hope you enjoy getting to know this genuine, insightful artist and industry leader.

Hi Christian, thank you for taking the time to speak with us here at MJD!

My pleasure!

What makes you evolve as an artist? Is there a belief or habit that has helped you to evolve?

I think that the main drive of me being in the music industry for over two decades is the love for house and techno. One way to keep on evolving musically for me is to produce artist albums. In these album projects I get to produce music that I would normally not release on singles. This helps me evolve and keep on pushing myself creatively as well. I enjoy making singles as well, however, with albums you set yourself apart from the others and can show that you have a larger bandwidth than just peak time techno music.

What do you enjoy most about this lifestyle? And least?

The travel! I love and hate it. It's incredible that I get to see the world every year, and meet many interesting people. But at the same time, the constant flights and jet lag can be really hardcore. Just last month I played in four continents, and did around 20 flights. Sure, being an international DJ can be glamorous if you are a superstar and fly private jets. But for the normal touring DJs like myself it's not all first class and five star hotels. Also, it takes a lot of work to stay relevant these days. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but being a successful touring DJ is not a walk in the park.

How do you maintain your balance with the touring?

As much as fly all over, I try to spend as much time at home as possible. Thankfully the majority of my gigs are in Europe. This means that I get to be home four to five days during the week. That's not bad. But when I do tours in North America and Asia and beyond, WhatsApp is very helpful and I get to speak with, and see, my family on a daily basis.

What advice would you give anyone wanting to pursue their creative passion?

Go for what you are passionate about and go full steam ahead. You have to work your ass off, and be very persistent! Also, finish all your tracks! One finished track is better than 30 unfinished ones. Furthermore, before you send your songs to the labels, make sure that the quality is good enough because once I listen to an artist whose music I don't like, it will be hard for me to take that person seriously the next time his or her demos arrive.

What do you feel would benefit the house music and techno industry at this point in time, for DJs, producers or fans?

It would be great if artists would get booked for their music and talent rather than social media presence. I understand that social media has become a necessary evil, and I'm cool with that. But I feel that it's sad that so many talented producers and DJs don't get a shot because some other people are better at social media. I feel that sadly the music seems to matter less and less. Other than that it would be great if we all turn down our egos a little and just have fun. There is so much elitism going on its laughable. Who cares about what genres you like. To me there are only two kinds of music, good and bad.

What’s next for you? And for Tronic?

A big Tronic boat party during ADE, lots of exciting releases on the label, and more touring!

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us!

Check out the Tronic Showcase this Saturday, October 6 at One Loft in Toronto! Click on the flyer below for more details.

]]>
https://www.mandyjdaniels.com/blogs/interviews/industry-catch-up-rudee-nik2018-09-26T17:50:00-04:002018-09-27T13:29:54-04:00[INDUSTRY CATCH UP] RUDEE NIKMandy J DanielsVertigo has steadily become a fixture in Toronto's dance music scene over the past year, providing an afterhours home for local talent, internationally-known bookings and lovers of house and techno. It's Vertigo's One Year Anniversary this weekend and I caught up with Vertigo maestro (and manager) Rudee Nik to learn more about him, the club, his philosophy on bookings, underground culture and more. Check out our catch up here!

Vertigo has steadily become a fixture in Toronto's electronic dance music scene over the past year, providing an afterhours home for local talent, internationally-known bookings and lovers of house and techno. It's Vertigo's one year anniversary this weekend and I caught up with Vertigo maestro (and manager) Rudee Nik to learn more about him, the club, his philosophy on bookings, underground culture and more. Check out our catch up here!

When did you get into the industry and in what capacity have you been involved?

I believe it all started with a passion to find music outside of what was on the radio in the late 90’s. I discovered house music and the emerging Toronto rave scene. After a very short time of shakin' my ass on the dance-floor, I quickly figured out that I'd much rather be playing the records for the crowd and be behind the scenes, involved with the events. DJ’ing led to the nightclub business where I helped run The Basement from 2008-2013 (an intimate underground nightclub located at Queen & Bathurst), and after a short hiatus from clubland we came back with Vertigo in September 2017. I help with the overall running of the venue and programming of the nights, and I’m one of the main DJ residents at the club.

(photo cred: alec donnell luna/ded agency)

How important is underground culture, and what in your opinion makes up underground culture?

I think the underground culture is made up of people who enjoy and share one common denominator: higher order of critical and deeper thinking in music, art and ideas. In our case, house and techno are synonymous with the underground. The music creates the culture.

﻿(photo cred: marko kovacevic)

Can you tell us about the venue itself and what makes it unique?

Firstly, the venue is something special: the exposed brick (we’ve been told it has a very Montreal-esque vibe to it) and the unique layout really create a cool underground, moody atmosphere. When we discovered the space, we were really in awe of its character. We also have our friendly, sociable, trustworthy security and staff to make sure we have a safe and clean environment, our diverse, respectful, openminded clientele, and of course 4AM espressos! We have a complimentary coffee bar espresso service that runs all night!

﻿(photo cred: marko kovacevic)

Can you talk to us about the programming philosophy or intention behind the artists you book and the sound you're interested in bringing to the venue?

House and techno! There are currently so many great DJ’s in Toronto, it only made sense to program our weekly scheduling with them in mind. Our bigger DJ showcases have included Kenny Glasgow, Sydney Blu and we hosted Nathan Barato & Carlo Lio for their Rawthentic New Years Eve event.

We’re coming up on our one year anniversary and we’ve really been spoiled with the talent that has graced our decks.

Thanks, Rudee, for taking the time to talk with us. Wishing you and Vertigo an amazing first year anniversary weekend!

Check out what Vertigo has on deck next (click on the flyer for link to event info):

With dozens of releases, Daniel Lera’s irresistible, abyss-like groove has found a home on labels like Dennis Cruz’ Lemon-Aid, Stefano Noferini’s Deeperfect and Nicole Moudaber’s MOOD. Born in San Sebastien, Spain, Lera’s love for electronic music led to buying turntables ten years ago, ultimately laying the groundwork for an exploration of music composition, rhythm and groove through DJing and production. If there’s one word that consistently defines his sound, it’s groove. He’s given us an exclusive mix, an exciting first for MJD! Join us on a dark yet light, rhythmic journey with scintillating percussion and a tribal twist. We caught up and talked about his production process, what makes him happy, challenges and rewards.. Enjoy the interview and sonic landscape with this talented Spanish producer!

What inspired you to start DJing? When did it start for you, and how?

I’ve listened to electronic music since I was very young. This world always called my attention. I was interested in all these artists I was hearing, and eventually I felt I needed to experience it for myself. So I bought some turntables and first vinyl to learn. This was about twelve or so years ago.

You have a very groovy sound, how did you learn how to produce?

Thanks a lot! Well, I first learned by doing it for hours and hours and making a lot of mistakes. Later, I started taking it more seriously and that’s when I started to study the subject.

What made you want to start producing?

The sense of limitation at the time of playing with two or three turntables. That's what pushed me to want to find out more.

Do you have a ritual for when you go into the studio? A certain way of working all the time? Any tricks or tips?

I dont have any ritual. Just sit when I want to produce, which is almost always (haha). A lighted place, a good seat and cigars.

Tricks or tips? Nothing too. The only thing I put as a rule is to make music that I would play.

What makes you happy?

A lot of things, not just music. I like hanging out with friends, drinking beer, seeing football, films, books. A lot of things make me happy.

What’s the best advice you could give yourself right now?

Continue to work as I have done so far. And try to always evolve and learn more. And enjoy, especially enjoy.

Who has influenced your sound? Do you have any other influences in life in general?

The music that I listen to, for sure. Generally, I dont listen to electronic music. I listen to rock, rap, r&b and soul, and it shows in my productions. I seek to make music that makes me dance with ease. There are some very good genres in electronic music but not so danceable. This isn’t what I’m seeking.

What have been the biggest challenges for you so far on this music trajectory?

My first challenge was to release a track of mine, and I got it. Then my second, was to release on a major label and I got on Nicole Moudaber´s label.

There is power when people of similar creative intentions connect, and the magic is evident and compelling with this prolific deep house/tech house production duo. Hailing from London, England, Eli & Fur have been growing steadily since 2013 with well-received releases on Anjunadeep, Defected and Toolroom, including collaborations with Santé, Erick Morillo and Dantiez Saunderson. Their sound is imbued by captivating melodies and sensual vocals, enchanting dance floors with mesmerizing vibes. Recently, the DJs played the last season of Music is Revolution, Carl Cox’s legendary weekly party at Space Ibiza, including the epic Closing party. The pair are showing no signs of slowing down as they continue their North American tour and relentless focus on production. I had the great fortune of catching up with them over the phone recently during their first stop in Toronto. We talked their production process and creativity, staying true to yourself, what makes it work as a duo, turning points and their experience with Carl Cox this summer. It was a fun and engaging conversation - permeated by thoughtful reflection and light-heartedness, often bouncing off each other in concert. Enjoy getting to know these talented, inspiring and hard-working artists!

Welcome to Toronto!

Thank you! It’s good to be here!

When you play a set or produce a track do you have an intention of what you’re wanting to create with it for an audience or listener?

Eli: It really depends. Sometimes we’ll just make a track without thinking about anything and just see what happens. Most of the time we’ll have an idea in mind, or have inspiration from something, and know where we want to take it. But saying that, it can always veer off into something else.

Fur: Yeah, sometimes we’ll sit down and be like, Let’s make something that’s a real banger that we can play out in our sets, and then it ends up being really mellow and melodic so… It’s kind of nice though, I suppose when you go from an idea anything can happen.

It’s the same with a DJ set. It really depends on the vibe and the crowd. There’s always a bunch of tracks that we know that we want to play, but it’s fun to just see where it goes and be creative with it and not set anything in stone. When you try to do a formula it can really limit you.

What do you think the most important personality quality to have is, when working as a duo - what makes it work with the two of you?

Eli: I think you’ve got to be quite tough, in a way. I guess traveling and spending a lot of time on the road and not sleeping that much, you’ve got to be pretty robust. I think that’s for anyone doing this kind of thing. But I suppose as a duo our personality traits complement each other when it comes to that.

Fur: Yeah, I think we bounce off each other quite a lot. If one of us is a bit lower than the other one, the other one sort of picks the other one up and then vice versa - it changes. And you have to get along pretty well, otherwise it could be pretty bad (laughter).

Eli: A lot of people are like, Who’s the more crazy one or who’s the one that does this.. and it’s funny because we always look at each other and we’re like, Uhhh, it totally depends! We definitely fill the void of each other and that’s why we’re best mates and it works really well as a duo.

Who and what inspires you?

Eli: It’s always a really hard question. I mean, definitely my friends and my family. But I guess overall experiences. It’s weird, today we were just looking out over the view and I was saying, Oh, this is so awesome to be traveling to different places. I just had to go into the room and write down all these lyrics. I got really excited about it. I think it’s just having amazing experiences, and definitely it’s what drives creativity. We share so many amazing moments, so to be able to write about those is just a massive thing for us. Life in general is inspiring.

Fur: I think for me it’s important not to be stuck in the same place for too long. Obviously with our job I don’t do that, so that helps. But yeah, definitely going to new places, meeting new people, seeing different things.

Eli: And making music, obviously.

Fur: Yeah!

Is there any advice you’d give to yourself looking back from where you are today to when you started?

Eli: I think I would say stick to your values. Don’t try to do what everyone else is doing. And it does sound really cliché, but it’s true. So many people have opinions of what we should be doing, what we shouldn’t be doing. But it is true. Whatever you are most passionate about is what you will do with the most emotion and feeling, and is what you really believe in.

Doing what you’re good at, like your strengths, rather than doing something that doesn’t really work for you. Just focus on what you’re good at because that’s what you’re going to excel at, rather than trying to be good at all these different areas. Go with your gut and what you love and that should be what you’d be best at.

Was there a turning point when you decided to go all in on this?

Eli: I think when we got that gig in Tokyo maybe.. When we first started, quite early on, we [sent out a set] and someone saw it and we went to Tokyo and had this crazy week of playing like every single day. We’d never gone anywhere internationally. At the time we were doing it for fun and then suddenly we were like, Oh hang on, we could actually do this. And it was really exciting going to visit different places. It was incredible. Like, this other culture and seeing them respond to the music we were playing. That was crazy. That was a moment where we were like, Okay, I think we can actually do this and make a living out of it.And I think to get a break like that or a show like that, that just gives you so much more confidence.

I think when we first got an agent as well. That was another moment. I guess when you get recognition, and find that you could be doing something you’re really passionate about. When people start to respond to it, that’s a real confidence booster.

Which came first, Tokyo or the agent?

Eli: It was Tokyo. When we started out we were kind of acting as our own agents and sending emails to agents and promoters and just really getting as many people as possible to know about us. We didn’t have an agent for awhile so it was a big deal that we managed to have that experience.

What was it like to be around Carl Cox, he’s so generous, playing his closing party and another time [at Music is Revolution] this summer?

Eli: Yeah, oh my god.

Fur: It was amazing. It was just such an honour to be part of it. I mean, we looked up to him for so long. He’s such a nice guy. He’s so down to earth.

Eli: And to believe in younger acts and to see us and give us the opportunity was amazing. Especially it being the last year of Space [Ibiza]. It was pretty mind-blowing to be honest.

What’s next for you in terms of production or the North American tour?

Fur: We have so much music that we’re just organizing. We’re sort of making music and touring at the same time.

Eli: Yeah, and hopefully near the end of the year we’re going to have a bit more studio time because it’s been quite a busy summer. But it’s nice because in between all the dates we’ve been working on demos. So when we get back from tour we’ll be tying those up and then I think looking forward to more releases and hopefully an album at some point.

So you actually produce on the road?

Eli: Yeah! You write a lot on the airplane. Get inspired the air.

Fur: Yeah, a lot of ideas start on the airplane, it sounds a bit strange but… (Laughter) No distractions anywhere..

Amazing! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk today!

Eli & Fur: Thank you!

Many thanks to Eli & Fur for taking the time to talk, and to Nadia and Chris at HouseAddict for setting it up!

To describe Spaniard Dennis Cruz’ sound is to enter a refined, deep-tech and techno groove with a hint of dub that moves you. Known for his deft productions that frequently chart in Beatport’s Top 100, and with releases on acclaimed labels Snatch!, Saved, Stereo Productions, Deeperfect and Material, he’s been steadily making his mark among noted industry veterans. We sat down ahead of his Canadian debut at Captive Audience’s Equinox party this past weekend in Toronto for a light-hearted conversation punctuated with laughs and a few stories. He touches on his production background and process, challenges, influences and advice to self. Enjoy our interview with this constantly rising talent and one of the underground’s gifted producers!

Thank you so much for taking the time to be here! How’s it going? How’s Toronto?

Good! I was in the CN Tower and saw the city. It was amazing and very beautiful. Also, it’s really good weather so… (laughing) It’s perfect. I really like it.

It’s your first time in Canada?

Yea, my first time. I hope I come more to Canada!

We hope so too:) You produce, you DJ - how did this start? You’re in Madrid, right?

Yea, I’m from Madrid. I first started as a DJ when I was around 16 or 17. One of my friends played at his home, and I went and was like, Whoa, what is this? So I just tried, and I loved it. I bought vinyl, turntables everything. Then I was playing in Madrid, and close to Madrid, only in Spain. When I was 22 or 23, I stopped playing because I was getting a little bored going to the clubs. There were a lot of problems, sometimes with the promoters. So I stopped and I started to study sound engineering. When I finished, I started working at studios recording rock bands, making hip hop beats, making everything.

As an audio engineer..

Yea, recording, mixing and mastering. I continued producing music, but not DJing. I was more producing. I was also making music with my friend - we were a duo. But about five years ago we went our separate ways and I started as Dennis Cruz again. Then, I started to make more music and play out more.

When I started to make more music, people started to listen to my music and played it to bigger DJs and I started to get requests to play at good clubs, also ones outside of Spain.

Did you enjoy that part?

Yea, I love it!

Do you have a favourite destination?

I don’t have a favourite. I love some clubs where I play, but I always like to play new clubs, new locations, especially to meet new people. For me it’s amazing to go for the first time to places, like here, to a new country. And see how you build the party.

What do you like most about producing? How do you approach production?

I love to be in the studio. Sometimes I start making one track, I have one idea, and other times I just sit in the studio and see what happens. I started producing only with one Roland MC-909, I bought it around ten years ago. I started only with this. Started with Ableton and for me it was this and the Groovebox drum machine [Roland MC-909]. But in the studio, when I make a track, I always try to focus on the groove.

You do have the grooviest productions. So you start with that..

Yea, I always try to keep the groove. Sometimes if you put too many elements, you can lose this groove. So I always try to make it simple.

I love that about your productions.

Yea, I always focus on the groove. (Laughter) Always.

With DJing, what do you love about it? They’re different..

Yea, it’s really different. Producing you are alone, and DJing you are with the crowd. I love to DJ because you can feel the people and there are always different vibes, you can feel the crowd and the energy. I love both parts, producing and DJing.

Have there been challenges for you along this path?

Yea. I always try to improve. I think I’m also very critical of myself. Maybe sometimes too much. I always try to do my best and sometimes… I want to reach the top. I know it’s really difficult at times, because there are big DJs and artists, but my limit is the top. I don’t know if I’m going to reach it, but I’m going to try. I think also if you want to improve, you must think of the top. If you are a conformist, I don’t think you’ll get there.

You have to be yourself..

Yea.

If you were to give yourself advice, from where you are today, back to yourself ten years ago, what would it be?

Dennis, be patient. (Laughter) And work hard. Yea, to be patient because sometimes I want to reach fast the things, and you have to work step by step.

Who’s influenced you?

I think my biggest influence is Oscar Mulero, from Spain. He’s techno. When I was young, whenever he played, I went. Also, when I started playing I was more hard techno, now I’m more soft. But he was a very big influence for me.

Very cool. Any producers that you really love?

I love a lot of producers, for example Samu.l, Metodi Hristov… There are a lot of big producers and artists. There’s one who did a release for me, Hugo. He’s released on Suruba X. Also, Paul C and Paolo Martini. I don’t have a favourite artist, but I maybe have some labels I like a lot because of their sound. I like 8Bit, from Nick Curly. I also have my own label, where I try to release the music I like.

With great content from formidable talent, I thought it'd be valuable to take a look back at quotes and ideas that stood out. The intention for the series is to connect with fascinating, creative artists and thought-leaders who have carved out an authentic path in a field they're passionate about, and to reflect their experience, vision and thoughts to you. Here's a glance at four compelling interviews with links to the full version.

There's power in sharing our stories - they call us to our truth, stir us to action and remind us of our common humanity. These conversations abound with insight, and have personally been a source of inspiration to continue along my own trail, often offering practical and prescient wisdom on how to live a life with focus, open possibility and truth.

Success is looking back on everything and having people come up to me and remind me that I’ve done something right. Like I said, sometimes I don’t stop and realize it. Sometimes you’re just like, what’s next, what’s next? And you don’t go wait, I did all this. So I guess having people remind me, maybe? I don’t know why it takes somebody else to remind me but..

At the beginning I never really did. But I had this fire and ambition inside of me and I really wanted to get a release on Dirtybird and then it just happened. I think when you want something so bad, you can get it. The positive energy that you bring with it, it just happens. If you imagine yourself where you want to be, it can eventually work out for you. I was super happy making music and I would dream of a day where I could express my music to everyone besides myself in my bed room. I guess I did believe in myself, I just didn't know I did.

||MAHER DANIEL on advice to up and coming DJs and producers, and creating success overall in the industry...

Be humble and respectful of your surroundings and the people around you. This life can get into peoples heads really, really quickly and egos start to come out of nowhere. What they seem to forget is that you’re exactly the same as everyone else - you started on that dance floor, you’re just in a different place in this industry now. But the key thing is the people on the dance floor are the ones who got you there - by supporting you, buying your music and buying tickets to your shows. So.. leave the attitude at home do what you do with a smile on your face and respect everyone the same way you’d like to be respected. This is a blessing! So be happy you’re not behind a desk from 9-5.

Find your own way. Find your own sound, find your own way and don’t follow too much hype, or what charts say, or whatever. Just do what you think is best. I have a really cool thing that I saw sometime ago, and it’s a nice sentence about this: In the beginning they will always laugh at whatever you do, but then they will start to copy. Actually, this is it. Just do your thing because everybody is always negative about new things because it’s possible competition for them, you know?

Many thanks to these artists for sharing their thoughts through the interviews!

Just over four months and 15 interviews in, with great content from formidable talent, I thought it'd be valuable to take a look back at quotes and ideas that stood out. The intention for the series is to connect with fascinating, creative artists and thought-leaders who have carved out an authentic path in a field they're passionate about, and to reflect their experience, vision and thoughts to you.

There's power in sharing our stories - they call us to our truth, stir us to action and remind us of our common humanity. These conversations abound with insight, and have personally been a source of inspiration to continue along my own trail, often offering practical and prescient wisdom on how to live a life with focus, open possibility and truth.

The following is a quick glance at the first five interviews: Julia Govor and Pheek on success, Dave Angel on his relationship with music and lessons learned, Johnny Trika's advice to his younger self and Mark Quail on win-win solutions. Enjoy!

I don’t think it’s success. It’s just the way I like to express myself. This is my work, this is normal when you[‘ve been] doing it more than 10 years, right? But I feel like I am a beginner.

I want to feel like I’m a beginner and do everything spontaneously, based on my intuition and full of enthusiasm. I don’t want to go to that zone where I feel like, ‘Oh, I’m successful’ or, 'What will they think of me if I do that' or, 'Oh they won’t understand me.' I want to feel like I’m a beginner and every day do something new to support music and art. This is what keeps me young.

For me, music is a way of life. It’s a relationship. It’s like you meet people that come and go in your life, so many people come and go. You meet wonderful people, you meet some not so good people, but the one thing about music is that she’ll always be there for me. No matter what. Even when I’m at my lowest. When I was ill, sick, I’d put my headphones on and she was always there for me. The way I look at music is as a love affair.

Lesson learned:

Never start something you love and not finish it, because you’re going to regret it.

Probably don’t stop working! (Laughter) Number one thing. My motto is, I believe in talent, but I believe more in work ethic. So yea, I would tell my younger self, “Don’t stop working.”

||MARK QUAIL on what he likes most about his work as an attorney, and all sides benefitting:

What I do is I negotiate contracts and put deals together. And that kind of is the favourite part of my job - I like negotiating contracts. I pride myself on knowing the business of music inside out and then applying that knowledge to a contract to ensure that my client, whether it’s a record company or an artist, is getting the best deal possible. And it’s interesting in this world too, because the best deal possible doesn’t mean that one side wins and one side loses, it means that both sides have to be happy, because if they’re not, you’re going to end up divorced really quickly. And that’s not fruitful in a creative relationship, whether you’re a music publisher signing a writer or a record company signing a performing artist.

We need to ensure everybody’s happy because then that should lend itself to a fruitful and profitable relationship for both parties. So, that’s kind of what I enjoy the most from the legal side.

It’s sort of abstract, but for me success is how are you connected with your community. And it’s not about how many likes you have on Facebook or how many friends you have, but more, are your friends in love with your music? Are your friends coming to see you play when you play in your living room? To me, that says that it’s amazing.

It’s said a picture is worth a thousand words. To see Robert Babicz’s studio set up is to begin to understand the story and trajectory of this unique artist and innovative master of electronic music, sound design and audio engineering. The Polish-born, German-based producer has over 1000 releases on seven albums, and tracks for labels including Bedrock, Intec, Systematic, Audiomatique and Treibstoff. We talked over Skype while he was in San Francisco, ahead of the second gig on his North American tour. His spirit is warm, welcoming, thoughtful and light-hearted. The conversation was insightful and punctuated with laughter as he weaved profound early experiences into turning points and decisions that led him to pursue the craft with full commitment. As he remarked, “For me, it’s a decision about being alive or dying. I take it this serious.” He sees sound and hears images, seeking and celebrating beauty and humanity. He talks about finding his purpose, music as “geometric art form in time”, the value of making mistakes, the profound impact of his first gig, getting organized and accessing a place deep within where constant energy flows. It was a mesmerizing conversation. I hope you enjoy getting to know this talented producer, esteemed artist and soulful person.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk today!

You’re so connected to your emotions, can you talk about how you translate feelings into sound and how you see sound?

I think in general, it’s a gift for every artist. That whatever feeling I have, how I feel in the day - if I’m sad, angry, happy, whatever - I can always transform this into music. So there is, in a way, never a bad mood. I can transform everything. Always. Everything is kind of a form of energy and it feels good to make music out of this.

It even feels nice to cry while playing music, it just feels good because I can release it and it's the same with every feeling. I don’t know if other musicians work the same like me, but for me every emotion is a very important energy. And I can work with it. Everything that I see is sound as well. It’s like colours and forms and everything. I look at something and I hear something.

And that’s like every day, all the time…

Every day, all around me non-stop.

So cool. I read that early on, music was a way for you to be in the moment, a way to be completely immersed. How do you create that over and over again in your performances and when you’re producing? Or is it a constant at this point, a seamless experience?

My goal is to have this constantly in my life, of course. But it happens on the stage, kind of easily because I play live, and play my own music, so I have to focus on this and immediately I’m here. I have to focus. And of course, I love to have this in my regular life. Actually making pictures - this photography thing - helps me a lot.

How so?

It really changed the way I see things. Like completely.

How you view the world..

Yes. I would say there is a stereotype about men or boys, that boys are not into details. It’s like women can see all the details, while boys just see one (laughing). I learned to switch between this and I can see a lot of details in little things that I find super lovely. Super nice. Like, just a shadow from something can be super beautiful. Things I was not able to see before.

Just through the images and photography..

Yeah. And now I don’t need the camera anymore, just by walking on the street I can see all these beautiful things around me.

You’ve trained your eye to look for the beauty, the detail..

Yeah.

(photo cred: Cirque du Son, Hamburg)

It’s funny, I do photography too.. That’s how I perceive photography - like a lens to see the beauty of the world.

Yeah, it really transformed the way of seeing the world. Super interesting. At the same time I’m hearing sounds around me and so it’s like, I’m Alice In Wonderland (laughter), just by walking on the street.

So it could be a moving image and you hear stuff?

Yeah. For myself I understood that the music I’m doing is geometric art form in time. Like you use time..Because every millisecond that’s happening, sound has a kind of form, and just you design the whole time, the whole object. And give it like a structure. Because it’s becoming, it’s putting stuff together, in ways. It’s a game, it’s kind of working with energy and shades and colours.

Different expressions of the energy..

Yeah. Because I’m so emotional, I always put all the emotions inside, because that’s me.

And then you can carve it based on what you’re seeing. Like you try to bring as much beauty as you can, or the harmonic..

Yeah, yeah that’s something natural. I’m not planning to do this, but because it’s kind of geometric it feels always better when it’s beautiful.

Coherent..

It’s like it comes natural that you try to make it beautiful.

Did you always have this default of seeing this kind of beauty or looking for this beauty or was it something that you trained yourself into?

I think I had this always, but I was not aware. I was really not aware. I remember as a kid how I was running through nature, forests, sitting on a tree, watching just trees moving to the wind.. for hours. And dreaming. Yeah, for me it was normal. I didn’t understand what I was doing.

And then when you found music, and photography, did it start to express more?

It was like different kind of levels of spiritual waking up. Like, you wake up more and more and more. I had a very hard time as a kid because I got abused by my father and he was beating me a lot. During my childhood I was extremely afraid of all adults. I was very, very afraid of every human. When you’re a child, you love your parents and then your parents are not nice, but you don’t know how it could be different. And I thought, Okay, if the people you love so much are like this, how is the world outside? So, most of the time I was alone. I was feeling good in nature. I was constantly in a day-dreaming state. And I was super super shy. And because it was very hard in my childhood, I had like two or three situations where I even wanted to kill myself. Like, when I was 9 years, when I was 14.. I had no idea why I was born. I had no idea, really. I could not understand humans. Today I’m not sure if I can be thankful to my father, but what happened in a way helped me to open some doors inside me. Because when he was doing bad things to me or beating me, I found a place inside my soul where he was not able to get me. Where I was secure. It was like another world. I’m still connected to this other world. So I have this direct connection to, let’s call it, this other dimension, and from there all this constant flow of energy comes.

Incredible. How did that turn around for you? The music must have been one of those moments that helped..

I never planned to be musician. It was amazing that this happened to me. I mean I loved music a lot, of course. And there were a few key moments in my life. Now I understand it, after many years. One of them was when I was 9 years old or something. I had a small radio, like a ghetto blaster, and every night I was listening to music in bed when I had to sleep. At the same time, I was always a fan of science fiction and spaceships and flying to space. One day I caught a radio show that was playing electronic ambient music, but I’d never heard this music before. When I heard this kind of sound and music, I personally thought I got a transmission from a space ship. (Laughter) And I was super, amazed and afraid like, listening to these sounds because I thought Wow, this is from another world (laughing). So I think this was one of the key elements. And then later on, I was 16 when this acid music came along. When I heard this abstract music, I had again in a way this, Wow, this is so different! So, abstract. And then again two years later I had the chance to play around with some instruments from a friend and I recorded a few tracks on a cassette. Really I had no clue what I was doing, I just had fun.

Amazing.

Really I had no clue. I played around. And I recorded some tracks on a cassette and I don’t know what was driving me. I saw an advertisement in a magazine - a young label was searching for electronic music artists. I sent them this cassette, they called me back two days later, Wow this is amazing! We have to release this - send us the master! And I told them, You have the master in your hands. (Laughter)

Basically, this was my first record. From the cassette. And then, two months after the release of this first vinyl, a promoter from my city, he found my number somehow, called me and asked if I wanted to play his party. I said, Of course, yes. (Laughing) But I told him I have one problem, and he said, Yes, tell me what, what’s going on? And I told him, I don’t have any instruments (laughing). And he said, Oh, no problem, we can ask some people and get you some.

So then I went there, two hours before and found instruments I never saw before. I took my headphones and started to program, and then I played my one hour set. Straight, like improvised weird techno music. But this was the very, very, very important moment in my life and something where I was really feeling good, and giving love unconditionally and getting this back. I was just myself. And this was like a bomb inside me.

And this was around 18 years old?

Yeah, I was close to 18 years, close to finishing my high school. And then I understood, okay, this is maybe the reason why you are here. This is so strong, this has all the power, this makes sense. The first time in my life I had the feeling it makes sense to be alive. It feels good to be alive. It was also the first time, after this show.. I was going to my parents. I told them, No I will finish high school, but I will not go to university. I will not take any job, I will do this music thing. And they were shocked, and angry, so they told me, Okay son, if you decide this, then you have to leave. So they kicked me out of home. I could stay and go to university, or leave. And without thinking, just thinking for a second, I said, Okay I go. And it was the first time in my life I said ‘No’ to my parents. Before I was always afraid to say no. But now I understood that I had something. And then, really just it was like the universe was taking care, in a way. I found this really small flat. A simple room. I got a mattress from friends. Like, I had nothing. But after the first show people really liked it and then I got other shows and my first little, little money came in. And I was able to buy (laughing) - a little instrument here, and this and that. So I was just moving out, living super simple, but super happy because I could do my music. And then for myself, I just believed this is the right thing and whatever happened, like for me, it’s still like this, I will never give up. I just do this because I have to. So, that’s maybe one of the reasons why I think if you decide to be an artist, to take it seriously. It’s super fun and amazing and whatever, but if you take it really serious, as a serious thing, then you can do way more than just a hobby musician making some beats and some sounds. For me, it’s a decision about being alive or dying. I take it this serious.

That’s so powerful. It’s so cathartic to hear you.. I think through our stories we can see ourselves.

In the end I think every human goes through this and makes decisions. And yeah, since then I’m living my dream in a way. And having a lot of adventures.

What advice would you give yourself, if there was any advice, from where you are today, to back 10 or 15 years ago? Is there any advice you’d give yourself back then?

No, because another thing is it’s super important to make mistakes. It’s one of the best ways to learn. Make as many mistakes as possible, but try to learn out of them. I didn’t have any teachers, nothing. It was just constantly doing things. Doing them sometimes wrong or right, but doing them. And then, things will happen. And just believe. I’m kind of, I don’t know, maybe super stubborn in a way, because I’m just going my way. If I want something, I can wait like, ten years. It’s okay. I try to make it happen. But I will just go on and on and on.

That’s so awesome.

It’s this kind of way. But yeah, I believe things will happen. It takes time, but they will happen. Just don’t give up.

What’s most important to you right now as you travel and do this work?

These days it’s getting more and more important to me, because it’s something I never learned, to be organized. This is a lesson I need to learn because everything is just way more complicated in a way. But when you travel all around the planet constantly, it’s good to be organized. (Laughing) And I’m really, I just live in the moment and what happens next is.. And many times I’m super surprised why things go wrong. (laughing) But it’s okay. It’s something I have to learn now. And the rest, from the music way, I’m kind of happy because I’m in this flow very easily.

You’re going to Burning Man?

Yes, and from what I understood, I will play seven or eight shows.

What does that experience mean to you or what are you looking forward to?

Many people tell me, Ah it will be amazing, it will be super cool. I’ll let it happen.

You’ve never been before?

No, I’ve never been there but in this 26 years of traveling around this planet I’ve seen a lot of things. (laughing)

I’m looking forward to it. But I’m just thinking not to wait for something amazing to happen just let it happen. For me it’s clear I will do from my side my best possible I can do. I will put myself into it and I will run around doing my music and of course, with the camera, and let things happen. Just dreamland. Let things happen.

Amazing. What’s next for you?

After this America/Canada tour, I’m going back. I made a few releases that I have to send out that are ready. And I’m so happy about them. And there’s a South America tour waiting for December I think, and then some Asia.. Always something. I just love to be alive. It’s just wonderful.

So amazing. If you had to describe the most beautiful feeling of a geometric shape of, I guess it’s hard to describe.. I was going to ask how you see acid in a picture, in words, but you can’t describe it right?

I have no words for this, you have to feel it. And then you know it. When you feel it, you know it.

Thanks so much for this time, I really appreciate it.

Thank you!

(photo cred: André M Hünseler | thinkingpixels.com)﻿

Many thanks to Robert Babicz for taking the time to do this interview, as well as his management.

Electric Island’s much anticipated season finale is on the horizon and I had the fine opportunity to talk with Alberto Jossue ahead of his Island debut. Hailing from Lima, Peru and nestled in Toronto for the past 13 years, this producer, audio engineer and DJ has made a tangible mark on the scene in a relatively short time. With three releases out this year, the latest a collaborative effort with fellow Torontonian Aleksandar Kojic, out on L’Enfant Terrible, a growing list of gigs locally and beyond, and an eye on more projects, this talented artist is poised for more. We talked his beginnings, love for shaping sound, influences and what playing Electric Island means to him. The conversation consistently weaved into a sincere acknowledgment of the exceptional talent and exciting growth of the city’s underground scene. Generous in praise for his fellow creatives and thrilled to continue building new ideas, it was a true pleasure to connect with this passionate and skilled artist. Get to know Alberto Jossue!

Alberto! Thank you! So excited to talk with you.

Thank you!

This music trajectory that you’re on, DJing and production, how did this start for you?

I think I started almost like everyone starts - having fun and wanting to share some music with friends. And that was usually me, the first one to get in the car and be like, Yo, check this out! I just found this, have you heard of this guy? I was introduced to electronic music pretty early and I didn’t understand how it was performed or done, it just captivated me. Once I started my education in audio engineering I started to really understand how music is made. I played instruments as a kid but never felt like I belonged in bands, I wasn’t too easy to get along with as far as music goes because I was always very stubborn with what I wanted to do. Then I realized I could be the whole band by myself in electronic music. Like most people I just started having fun with it and eventually realized I really loved doing it and wanted to pursue it.

It’s been pretty organic and natural in the way that it’s evolved. I figured it would turn into work and be serious, but on the contrary I’m having more fun than ever before.

Congratulations on your latest release, Macrocosm on L’Enfant Terrible! I found the title track dreamy, chill and nuanced. How would you describe your sound?

Thank you! Well, it depends. Macrocosm was the birth of me and Aleks Kojic working together. I caught Aleks through gigs, playing as his duo project Cabalistic a long time ago, in which he does live keys and we always talked about jamming sometime. We finally got to it earlier this year and in our first session we created Heathen, which has been our most popular song of the EP.

The sound and style of this EP, I have to say I wouldn’t call my sound, I would call it our sound. When we come together, this is what comes out. We’re very different artists in our solo projects. I would describe my sound personally as a little bit heavier, but still melodic and groove driven. More in the sense of classic progressive before the EDM movement redefined that genre.

I think it’s beautiful to take on different sounds and projects, I know he would agree with me that we never want to have one specific sound, I think that’s a waste of beautiful ideas.

2016 has been pretty significant for you with three releases. How’s this year been for you in terms of gigging, being in the studio and putting releases out?

This year has been absolutely ridiculous, I mean I never would have predicted how this year has turned out. I’ve always been one of those guys to have a set of goals in mind and to have naturally just been able to hit them has been amazing. I wanted to have my debut release this year, that was my main goal, which was my release on 3XA Music, which was in February. That cracked the top 10 Progressive releases on Beatport which was a huge accomplishment for me. This EP with Aleks has gathered so much attention and love from so many different artists that we admire so, that’s also been surreal.

I mean I couldn’t be more grateful for how this year has been in the production side. I still have a remix Nature of Music and another remix for Talal & Zoi coming. I honestly can’t complain. And it’s been a team effort, to be honest with you. I gotta give credit to the people I surround myself with, I mean, not only Aleks, but Sarah at Sistrum. She permits me to have so much more head space for music and having someone you trust handling the business side of things for you, to be able to focus on what’s important, is priceless. I believe there’s a team behind every artist and the people that I surround myself with are just as important as what I do in the studio. Same thing goes For my White Label family, as someone thats trying to turn music into a career, having people you trust and are inspired by is key.

The Toronto scene is very special - what are you digging most about this scene right now?

Well, there’s many things to celebrate in Toronto but I think the thing that really stands out to me is the amount of original music that is really making a mark internationally that’s coming from our artists. Toronto has a sound that it’s always liked, or always been known for. But now we have artists coming out with music and productions that don’t follow that known Toronto sound. For example Nature of Music having two releases on Hernan Cattaneo’s label, or Talal & Zoi releasingon labels like Kindish and Traum, which is massive! Dustin Nantais for example, he’s been on fire for so long with so many releases on amazing labels, and the fact that the city is embracing that, I think those are the things that are really standing out for me in Toronto. I think our lineups, especially the Island, is showing that Toronto is starting to embrace all music more than ever and that we welcome all music to our city and this evolution is starting to show.

You have an audio engineering background, what excites you most about music production?

There’s nothing I love more than doing mixdowns. I’m a big fan of shaping sounds and highlighting sounds and polishing the final product. I recently just did my first two remixes ever, which I mentioned earlier, and I found a lot of fun in that too. I think that’s something I’m going to focus on a little bit more and have a little bit more fun with. Playing with people’s sounds and figuring out how I can interpret their work.

What about DJing and telling a story, taking people on a journey? What’s your approach to music in general, the emotional nature of it?

I’ve always been a big fan of variety and taking chances with DJing. I’m very excited to have opportunities to showcase different genres. The last set I just did, the mixtape for Godzilla Disco, that’s going to be an outlet for non-dance floor music. I’m really looking forward to doing more of these, and evolving with it as a project. It’ll show me how far away I can get from the dance floor and that will permit me to discover so much new music and develop new skills. That’s really exciting for me.

I would eventually like to do more open to closes locally. I had my first open to close this January, which was a really big success for me and I had so much fun. I went through so many genres and decades of music. It was a very interesting and surreal experience. I was lucky enough to have Nest, who's been such a crucial outlet for my music, provide me with the opportunity to give it a shot.

I heard amazing things about that night.

It was wonderful. It was very humbling to have so many people come out and support you, it meant a lot because at the end of the day, all of us, not just me but every single guy or girl who’s trying to push themselves musically and be a DJ/producer, to have people come out and support you, without necessarily having a big name to piggyback off of, is very humbling and makes you feel really good and motivated.

(photo: Ded Agency)

What’s most important to you as you move forward along this path?

I would say the thing I care about the most is to keep things honest. I want to just stay true to who I am and I think that’s a big challenge nowadays for performers because we have to adapt to the market, we have to adapt to the crowds. I find that longevity is found in the people who really stick to who they are and are just honest to themselves. The guys that I look up to, guys like John Digweed, Hernan Cattaneo, Laurent Garnier, Guy J - these are guys that are just who they are. It’s not a genre kind of thing, it’s more of being true to what you love doing. They let the music do the talking and they just stay themselves. Humble and happyto be sharing music and living their dream. I think that would be my biggest contribution to myself as an artist - to try to stay focused and always stay moving forward, having new projects and a new vision and challenging myself to achieve new goals. That’s what I want to focus on, the music, and try to eliminate all the other noise as much as I can.

Who are the other influences you’ve had in your life, musically, or today?

All kinds. Overall, starting locally I would say, many, many people have influenced me. But one of the guys who really stands out to me is Jad Ad, who has been such an amazing professional, and friend at the same time. And musically, sharing so many things, he’s literally contagious as far as love for music goes. I’d have to say Nature of Music as well, they’ve been so instrumental. Ever since the first day I saw them play I was like, Man, these guys are the truth. They were very instrumental in shaping my sound and opening my ears to different sounds. The legend that is Arthur Oskan and the amazing Gab Rhome were also very important in the birth of my first releases of 2016. They provided so much help and guidance, small tips and contributions that made all the difference in my studio work. On a global scale, I grab influence from everything, Radiohead being my absolute obsession. Also, even though it kind of makes no sense, my biggest influences are not electronic music, I listen to a lot of soul, a lot of blues, a lot of jazz. I find that usually is what gets me inspired. Before gigs, before studio sessions, I like to really dabble in very different genres, possibly the least electronic possible. There’s so much out there that we can translate into our music.

Do you have particular soul artists or styles you’re into? Like Philly soul, Motown, Aretha?

Oh yeah, right now I’m a little bit obsessed with Al Green and Sam & Dave. Outside of that, blues-wise, I’m a huge Muddy Waters fan. I love him, he’s just so raw, in every possible way. A lot of R&B as well, like Etta James, Amy Winehouse, D’Angelo. I like stuff with a lot of blues and a lot of, I don’t want to call it sadness, but a lot of emotions. Like, heartbreak is a beautiful thing and I get very attracted to that musically. I would say heartbreak and rough times in life are by far the things that have motivated and inspired me the most.

Have you had any mentors?

Many artists and people that influence me, teach me a lot of things. I wouldn’t say I have a specific mentor, but there is someone that has helped me understand many things in this industry, that I didn’t necessarily understand. I’m very fluent musically, but I’m not very fluent business-wise. So I would have to say the one person who has always kept me grounded and kept me focused on the right things, has been Brent [Hayward]. Not only has he been a great friend but I wouldn’t be anywhere without him as a musician. He’s one of the first guys that took a chance on me and still takes chances on me and supports me in every aspect of this ride. He’s always there to help keep me focused on what’s important and helped me ignore the noise. He’s been a huge guiding hand in how to carry myself in this business, which was my biggest challenge. I’ve always understood music, I’ve always been able to evolve musically, but the business part is a must, and whether you like it or not, you gotta play that game. Some people have the ability to play that game, some people don’t - I’m one of the people that doesn’t have that ability. He was hugely influential in me making the right moves and doing the right things at the right time. And not letting my hot headedness get in the way of my music.

What does music bring you?

Man, everything! (Laughing). Music brings life. It’s something that, it’s hard to explain, but lately it’s brought more peace than anything else because I found that I’m doing something I love and that I’m good at something I love, and that’s very rare. I was having a conversation with a good friend not too long ago, about the business side of music, the good and the bad, and the conclusion that we came to is that nobody can stop you from making music. I think that’s the most beautiful thing about it. We can pursue music professionally or we can pursue music as a hobby, but the most important part is that there’s nothing that can stop you from pursuing music.

And if it brings you happiness, then you’ve already achieved success.Outside of that, almost every good friend I have I’ve met through music. Everyone in my life who I care about has come in or been introduced through a musical experience. I think music surrounds you with like-minded people. I’m a firm believer that if you listen to someone’s music you can kinda tell what kind of person they are. I’ve always had that with headliner DJs, for example. I’ll meet a guy who’s music I love and I’m like, Man, it makes sense! Now that I’ve finally met you, your personality totally matches what you do. Music does so much for people, I mean it’s brought us to have this conversation right now.

What’s next for you?

Right now I’m not looking past the Island, to be honest with you. I’ve got New York this weekend, which I’m really excited about, one more surprise next week, which we’ll be announcing during the week [Output!], which I’m incredibly excited about. After that, I’m going to be focusing on a follow-up EP on my own, and I have one EP that I’m finishing up with Aleks as the follow-up to our debut.

I am putting together a small group of musicians for an electronica project we’re feeling out right now. Thats more of a 2017 goal, and then I’ll be taking a little time off the studio, and a little bit of time off towards the end of the year, just to decompress for a bit, gather some inspiration. Take a long vacation, do a little traveling, get the juices flowing and then winter time is studio time again to hit 2017 hard.

What does playing Electric Island mean to you?

The first feeling I had when I was told about it, was a feeling of accomplishment. It’s a beautiful way to get recognized by your peers in Toronto. And the fact that I started in this scene the way you probably did, and the same way many of us do, which was on the dance floor. Watching this collective of people evolve from the 99 Sudbury and Footwork days to the astronomical level of success of the Island, to later in my life be invited to perform there and have the honour to be chosen, feels like a nod and I really appreciate that. It means a lot.

I think it’s the one party in Toronto that exposes people to types of music that they are not normally exposed to. I see people that normally don’t come to any events that still go to the Island. People that have no clue what they're walking into and have never heard these artists, now go home realizing that electronic music is much more than what they’re getting from radio and TV. Exposing these people who don’t know about our music to really good artists is a huge deal, and to be a part of that is very humbling, and it makes the work worth it. I hope it happens to a lot of other guys because there’s still a long list of great DJs that we have, and artists in the city, that also deserve a chance at that gig because we’ve got so much to showcase. I’m very grateful and I’m very excited.

Many thanks to Alberto for taking the time to do this interview, and for LCPR for setting it up.

Sophisticated, emotive, melodic and diverse are all words consistently used to describe Guy J’s musical storytelling. Whether it’s taking listeners on a hypnotic journey through one of his tracks or in a full set, he has a reputation for captivating dancefloors with refined, ethereal sounds, deep, textured techno, sensual, groovy tech house and everything in between. I caught up with Guy recently where he describes the power of music for him, his perspective on telling a story through music, his greatest career challenge, production tips, what he’s looking for on his label, Lost & Found, and more. His catalogue is replete with hundreds of tracks released on renowned labels including Bedrock, Turbo, Anjunadeep, Cocoon, and Tronic. Enjoy getting to know this unique, highly-regarded and inspiring artist!

Welcome back to Toronto! How do you prepare for a gig in terms of music selection, but also mentally or emotionally?

My preparation for a gig is writing music! I try to come to all my gigs with original music; I’m addicted to my studio and want to give my best when I go to play at clubs/festivals.

Can you talk about how your sensitivity to emotions translates into the music you produce?

Writing music nowadays is a 100% spiritual process for me, I express myself through the music I write. It all depends on my mood and feelings as to how the track will come out. I never plan in advance, I just turn on my computer and let it flow.

What does the power of music mean to you?

The power of music is the availability to make people feel regardless of origin. The fact that I’m lucky to travel the world means the music makes people feel, it doesn’t matter where they come from, it has no boundaries.

What’s your perspective on taking the listener on a journey - how do you approach the art of telling a story through your music?

I learned a lot in the beginning from listening to John Digweed’s Radio Show. He could squeeze in a 1-hour mix the experience of a full night in club. This is when I found out that you can tell a story, there is an intro, there are changes, there is something going on. I love it when I play and I know that the set is always developing.

What advice would you give to yourself, standing from where you are today, back to yourself 10 years ago, if any? In terms of production, or life in general?

I would just say to myself what I said back then, to follow your heart.

What makes a great studio environment for you?

Creativity. After moving countries and changing studio, it’s all about yourself at the end of the day.

What do you love most about producing?

Electronic music has no limits; there are endless options in terms of producing itself, not the genre. There is something special about writing a track; I find that to be a good producer you need to know how to manipulate with the tools you have in the studio.

Have you had any mentors along the way?

Not much in terms of when I started. I used to follow many great DJ’s and producers but when I got to meet John Digweed and Hernan Cattaneo they gave, and are still giving me, a lot of good advice.

What makes you believe in the music you produce, or the music that you release on Lost & Found? What are great production elements you look for in tracks?

First and most important, I’m looking for original music for my label Lost & Found. And also, that I know most of the producers on the label on a personal level so maybe I can see and feel the track differently.

Believing in the music I do is a process that takes time. From the first release ever until the tours and gigs I have, this is the best feedback and best experience to gain confidence in what you do. I would like to consider the music I make original so it takes time until you really believe it is original.

What's the greatest challenge you’ve had on this career trajectory?

The greatest challenge from day one is to stay original and realize that you are not a machine. I have days when I try to make music and its not always working or will work, you need to let go from time to time and give the brain some air or oxygen as they say.

What about the greatest reward?

When the brain is back to being creative :-)

I saw in an interview that you mentioned you enjoy photography, are you pursuing that at all?

I love photography but sadly I don’t have much time for it at the moment. I hope to get back to it very soon; it is a very special thing to be able to catch a moment.

What’s next for you?

Next for me is traveling! Also doing more and more label nights which are going great, there is beautiful music coming out on Lost & Found.

Waiting for lovely Toronto !

Many thanks to Guy J for taking the time to do the interview, as well as his management. And thank you to the great team at LCPR for setting it up.

Undeniable talent, passion and hard work have all played a role in the recent success of Marino Canal’s powerful debut album, Over Under, out on MOOD Records. In this 2-part interview - the first preceding the album’s launch, and the second after its release - we cover this Spanish producer's beginnings, production process, defining moments, creating a conceptual album, being authentic and much more. Canal received strong support from Nicole Moudaber early on, releasing two of his most well-received EPs through her label, MOOD. Now, his latest album has garnered support from the likes of Josh Wink, Adam Beyer, Joris Voorn and more. His sound is hypnotic, poised, melodic, deep and constantly evolving. We talk about staying true to one’s own sense of self and what feels right, a perspective that’s engraved on the album, and one which has contributed to his own personal transformation through the process. I hope you enjoy this foray into the mind of this incredibly gifted, rising artist, Marino Canal.

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk today.

My pleasure! Thank you for inviting me.

How’s this summer been?

It’s been great. I’ve not been touring too much, just working on my music. I started producing different music. At one point, I felt like everyone was playing bangers and tech house with vocals and to me, even though it’s underground music, it started sounding very commercial and lifeless, monotonous in general. I’ve been locked into my studio trying to figure myself out and where I want to go with my music.

How did this start for you?

When I was a kid, my dad used to throw parties in the countryside, full on raves, basically. I was always hanging around. One day I found myself behind two decks, it must have been in the morning, nobody wanted to play or were too fucked up to play and I started messing with the mixer and I got hooked in that moment. I hate that I don’t remember exactly when it happened, that it clicked for me, that like, Okay I love this, I’ve found something that I really like, which became my hobby and now my career. But, yeah, it was there at raves with my dad that I found my passion. (Laughter)

He had decks and you just started to practice and play?

Yeah, they were not even CDJs, they were just CD players with a pitch controller, not Pioneer, I don’t know what they were, but I just started mixing records. I was quite bad obviously. My dad then bought some Pioneer CDJ 100s, which was the first version of the CDJs - he said he bought them for himself, but I think he bought them for me, because he wanted me to become a musician - so I started playing at home. Then in my teen years, I discovered computers and stopped practicing my mixing and took that path for awhile. I came back to playing again a few years later, rediscovering what I truly loved, which was playing music on CDJs.

When did production come in?

When I got into to computers. My father bought me a computer because I told him that I wanted to produce music. That was a real, legitimate reason, but at the end I didn’t produce music for awhile. But I had this computer, and I had some obscure software. I don’t even know what the name was, it came with a soundcard. That’s the way it starts though, it’s like you get some software and you don’t even know what you’re doing and you start experimenting. I think I truly started to think of production as a way of work in high school, when I was 17. My parents sent me to Vermont to study. I had a lot of free time, it was very boring, very cold and you couldn’t go out too much so I downloaded Ableton and started to take it more seriously. Nine years later I’m making some music that I’m proud of now.

Where do you draw inspiration from for your tracks? What’s your creative process?

You know, it’s strange, I was watching this tutorial video yesterday. It’s this guy, he makes hip hop and he really knows Ableton inside out. And the way he was making music, he was thinking about it the whole time. Like, So now I’m gonna pitch this oscillator down by two octaves and put an envelope on it so it sounds like etc… The way I do music, I think it’s more experimental in a way. I will open up Ableton and maybe I will pull a sample that maybe I heard in a movie or a documentary. I have sampled it with software I have on my computer and I start building an idea out of that. I put some effect on it. Or maybe I start a track with drums, making a beat that sounds okay to me. I don’t have any given way of making music or inspiring myself. I wish I knew I had the formula but I don’t know the formula (laughing). When I made that track, Can’t Feel, which maybe was my biggest track, it was the B-side of that record.

I made that track in one afternoon. I remember just following what felt right. I wasn’t thinking, like, do that, or I’ll put this.. I just did it and that was that track. It wasn’t some very well-thought out elaborate production, you know?

And this new album..

To me the album overall sounds like what I want to sound like now. So, that feel from that track, but now.. More refined.

How was the process of producing the album, it’s dropping August 19th?

Yes. It took me almost a year. Can’t Feel, going back to that, was more tech house-y and I really got bored of that genre or sub-genre or whatever. So I think I literally made two albums, I kept changing it. Like, the tracks sound updated now. I would work on tracks from the album and new tracks aside from the album, and in the end it changed the whole album. Literally a whole new 10 tracks on it. So now I’m happy.

It was a very strange process because I guess albums have to have a concept or a story. I didn’t start thinking about that until December when I was like, Okay, I actually have an album now, but it’s not telling anything, it’s just a bunch of tracks. That’s when I decided I’m going to do a different album with a concept. I like to think I called the album Over Under because I am over the concept of underground music, or over my old self. I’m over that now, that’s what came to me.

So there’s an actual concept behind it, it’s not just a random..

Now there is (laughing), not back then. You know, my dad is a music head, he’s been buying music his whole life on vinyl. He was like, Dude you need a concept! And yeah, he was right. So at the end, the concept presented itself, I didn’t have to think about it.

Cool how you can evolve in the process..

Like, Nicole told me, okay next release is going to be an album. And I wasn’t even sure, I was like, Are you sure? Who wants to do an album nowadays, it doesn’t make sense, people don’t listen to albums… But, she was right. This album served me well to move to a new self. To evolve to a new self. Nicole’s platform is really good and she’s working hard on it - she’s got that EP from Pan Pot released recently. She’s putting quite some effort on the label.

﻿

What’s the best advice you ever received?

Don’t try to be anybody else. It sounds so cliché but there’s only one Marco Carola, there’s only one Richie, there’s only one Nicole, you know? If you’re trying to copy somebody’s formula it’s not like math, it’s not guaranteed to work. In art you have to be an individual to represent something that feeds you. You’re not going to fool anybody, if you pretend to be somebody you’re not through your music or your art, people are going to notice that, so you have to be authentic and experiment. Just be yourself.

What producers do you like?

I love Kiasmos, I mean they’re huge now but.. I liked James Blake when he was not that big, that’s such a hipster thing to say (laughing). I love Samu.l, he’s from the UK, he makes cool stuff. Martin Buttrich is a big supporter of him, and for good reason, he’s a very talented guy. There is this guy he plays house, stuff I don’t even play now but he’s so good, Liam Geddes. I think he deserves to be a really big artist - he’s such a good producer, he’s amazing. Shaf Huse. Now he’s doing very well. It’s strange - I find all these artists that have like, 200 likes on Facebook or something. Most of them they end up doing really well and I’m happy for that, because they don’t know it. These two artists, I reached out to them I was like, Hey guys, can you please send me music? I’m going to play on Nicole’s podcast or in New York or whatever..

It’s going to be cool to see your album come out..

I’ve just recently started believing in my music, I don’t think I’ve ever played one of my records in one of my DJ sets. And that’s being honest with you, I’ve never played Can’t Feel. (Laughter)

Part Two - Post-Release

How’s it going with the release of Over Under?

It’s great! You know, it’s top 20 in the general releases chart today, top 7 in techno releases as well, so.. It’s a strange feeling, I was not expecting it. It got really good feedback, like people are really enjoying it. It’s never happened before with any release like, people messaging me, who I don’t know, out of the blue saying, It’s so good. It’s been so long since I’ve made it, and I’ve heard it so much as well, but I guess it is good (laughing). What do you know - you never know when something’s going to sell.

When Lee Van Dowski posted a comment on his Facebook page, like, the album is the ‘best thing I’ve been listening to in awhile’. That had never happened before, and I’m not friends with him or anything. He did it because he really felt that way. And when I got the feedback from the promo as well, that was quite exciting. I got really good comments from Josh Wink, Joris Voorn as well, he posted a really nice comment. And some other people.. A lot of feedback. Usually, they’ll be more like ‘Thanks for the promo’ but they took time.. Adam Beyer as well, he left a really nice comment. And I don’t know any of those guys, and they don’t owe anything to Nicole too, like they did it out of heart and belief that it was really good music. They’re not doing a favour to anybody. So I’m excited for that.

It’s touching to hear about the comments. Super real. People beyond the friend circle who are reaching out to give you great words..

Yeah, you know I was feeling a bit down the other week [prior to release] because I’ve spent a lot of time with the album and I still have very few gigs and no agent or any of that, and to have the album be so successful and to have people who I really admire being so open about it, like, Guys this is really good music. That really lightened me up.

That’s awesome.

It’s cool. I wasn’t expecting anything as well. So if it wouldn’t have been on any chart I’d still be okay with it, but now.. Now, I actually have to become an artist (laughing).

That’s my favourite quote ever, Now I actually have to do something about it. (Laughter)

And now I have to take it seriously. I’ve thought about quitting before. Many people who do music or any kind of art, they all have doubts I think. Everybody says, you have to believe in yourself. For me at least, it’s not so obvious. But now I do, because I see the response. Every body has doubts, and I do as well. But now I’m clear (laughter).

So powerful. In so many artist’s lives there’s a turning point, or many, where the artist receives support, like this. And that’s what makes them keep going..

I think so. It’s a defining moment, at least for me. I can see how that would be the case. You have to make a real decision at some point. Be real about your career. Maybe I’m not making ends meet still, like I don’t have a decent income every month, but now at least I know that the music is good enough to take me there. So you know, I’m going to keep pushing now towards that direction.

I’ve got some really exciting music coming, It’s not signed yet, but you know, it’s music that I’m really proud of. I became really inspired after going to Sonar this year, I don’t know why. For a week nonstop.

I’ve been hearing some feedback about your album, they keep using the term ‘inspired’..

For me it’s hard to step outside myself and analyze my music, but it is music made with heart. It is really what I feel and what I like. It’s not trying to be anybody else, just trying to be myself and have an identity in music. Maybe that’s why it’s such a personal album. People can tell like it’s not just, whatever, he’s put four loops together from a sample library and that’s it. It’s not that, so..

Did Nicole give you the freedom to do what you wanted to do?

Oh yeah, she did. Totally. It was her idea to begin with, like I told you last week. For me it didn’t make sense to make an album. But she’s been in the game for so long, so she knew. She knew I had to do it, and it’s thanks to her that we are here now.

What’s so cool about this is you were 100% authentic, and you got success..

For sure. And that’s what I will take out of this whole thing. It was truly myself and it worked out. Now I really know that.. I’ve changed a lot. And now I know that this is the direction I’m taking.

What’s next?

I just worked really hard on the album for a long time, and I didn’t think about anything else. But I’ve got a lot of really good music still, one of my new tracks is on the mix I did for Nicole’s radioshow recently. It’s the very last track, which, I think it’s a really cool track, so yeah, check that out.

Anything else you want to say?

Yeah, thanks to everybody who supports me and my music, I might have stopped making music at one point if I hadn’t gotten this response.. soon. So, it came sooner rather than later. So thank you. Really excited to see what comes after this. People say that charts don’t matter, but in the end they kind of do. You can say whatever you want, but if you’re charting, the people do notice that and promoters and label managers do as well. Really excited for my future. And really excited to play live as well. I love DJing, and it’s going to be really challenging for me to play live but I’m up for that challenge.

I could see people responding really well to it given your production capability..

(Laughing) We’ll see. If you’re DJing and something isn’t working in that moment you’ve got so many tracks to choose from, but as a live act, of course depending how you’re playing, but usually there’s not much material to choose from so we will find out eventually (laughter).

It was a true pleasure to catch up with Belgian techno maestro, Tom Hades. We spoke via Skype where he was ensconced in his gorgeous studio, surrounded by a sea of keyboards, synths, drum machines and other electronic devices. With techno and tech house releases on esteemed labels Drumcode, Bedrock, UMEK's 1605 as well as long-time collaborator Marco Bailey’s MB Elektronics imprint, and with a career spanning over 20 years, I was excited to learn more about this remarkable DJ and producer. The conversation was inspiring and insightful as we covered his production process, great advice he’s received, playing live versus DJing and why he made the switch, as well as other compelling bits on the challenges and rewards of this path. So thrilled for you to meet Tom Hades! Enjoy:)

Thanks so much for being here and taking the time to talk today!

My pleasure!

You started early, producing back in your teen years, and you started more as a producer than a DJ?

Yes. At the age of 13 or 14 years old I was already experimenting. At the age of 17, I think I had my first release signed, but it was under a different name and it was different stuff, more new wave. And then, around age 19 or 20 I had my first releases together with Marco Bailey. Followed by solo releases and yes, this is how the train started. (Laughter)

And you just loved it and kept going with it..

Yes. I’ve always done a combination of two jobs, this and another one. I started as a developer in a company. It was about right place, right time, right moment, you know? I got the opportunity to buy myself into the company and eventually be the only owner, so I’m the owner of a software company now.

Amazing. Do you enjoy that just as much?

Actually, it never felt like a difficult task to do both. It’s actually a good thing for me personally because it’s kind of a switch in my head, from the week to the weekend.

So you’ve been doing that for just as long as the producing..

Yes, more than 20 years.

Can you talk about your evolution as a producer creatively, as the gear has changed over two decades? What’s your process like now versus before, or is there a difference?

There is actually no difference between what I did when I started in the first decade, and now. In between I changed, like a lot of guys who were really busy at that moment, where everything changed to more software. Hardware was not available anymore, not produced anymore, you know? It was done. Nowadays, hardware is back and I think even more than before with the only difference that it’s kind of affordable now. When I started you had a studio that you shared with a lot of other people because it was really too expensive. I never had doubts about the progress or the changes I did, because everything you do you always learn something new. Never too old to learn. But in the end, since I’ve bought a lot of new hardware again, I’m a hardware addict (laughter).

Awesome. Do you still have some from when you first started?

I still have some but I also sold so many things. I gave stuff away and don’t even remember who I gave it to (laughter). But it’s okay, it’s my own fault. This is how things went. I also sold a lot of things because I changed or moved houses. At the in-between house, there was not a lot of space to put everything, so I had to make decisions, either rent another one or.. So, circumstances, times, everything was part of the deal that I sold stuff. But eventually now, like I told you, I’m back with hardware that I like. Basically every element that I need to build a techno tune - drums, synths, basses, effects, whatever I need - I have and this is basically what I want to have. Because I like to do one-shot recordings.

So you do one take?

Yes, I have a multi-track of stuff running in Ableton, so it’s recording like 32 tracks at once and I have everything connected to a mixing desk, which is then connected through a multi-track. I can easily record everything and I do everything on the fly. So I literally make my drums… I prepare some stuff from before, then I do one take.

Really!

Yes. Of course, this one take is always way too long because you only have two hands and you can do a lot of things, but not all (laughter). So basically, let’s say it’s 12-15 minutes of recording. Then I will start to cut out stuff, so I have a normal track.

So you’d cut and maybe go back and layer?

No, the only thing I will do then is try to take the takes from the different tracks and then see what I can do with it. But I try to avoid to go back, because for me personally, building a track is a part of a moment. You’re in a kind of feel and it has to be done now. And it can be either very good, or very bad (laughter). But I don’t have problems with that. That’s the way I work. Then I make some basic structure or cut stuff out or whatever. Then I do basic mixing, then I leave it alone for a couple of days. And then when I come back, it’s D-Day - either it’s good or it’s bad. It’s also because I’m coming from a generation that had to do it like this before, because before it was only with a .dnt record. So, that’s basically how we’d record stuff. Or you’d have a sampler with say, 8 seconds mono-sampling. That’s it. Nowadays, I really hope sincerely that newer generations know what possibilities they have now, because before it was hell (laughter).

Is there any advice you’d give to up and coming DJs, or producers?

Find your own way. Find your own sound, find your own way and don’t follow too much hype, or what charts say, or whatever. Just do what you think is best. I have a really cool thing that I saw sometime ago, and it’s a nice sentence about this: In the beginning they will always laugh at whatever you do, but then they will start to copy. Actually, this is it. Just do your thing because everybody is always negative about new things because it’s possible competition for them, you know?

What’s the best advice you ever got?

One advice I got was ‘Don’t overdo things.’ It’s in a lot of ways, like production-wise - like how I told you I won’t go back. Why? Because you can destroy a good track by overdoing stuff. And in the same way, don’t overdo productions in releasing stuff. Don’t release and release and release and release. It’s not necessary. If you really want to release more than one track at once or build an album, make it cool, one coherent album with things that fit together and still are different.

Very cool. You started as a producer and you used to play live, and now you’re more DJing - can you talk about that process for you and the inspiration for that?

Yeah. When I started to do more experimental productions I was already DJing a bit but not professional, of course. More like small clubs in the region here. I liked it, but I liked the production process much more. And yeah, at a certain moment you come to this step that production is getting more serious but still you need to get out to show yourself so I had to make a decision. I thought, why not take a bunch of hardware and do live sets. I did this for about seven or eight years. I really loved it, the only problem was that it is very difficult to travel with a lot of hardware. I lost a lot of things, a lot of things were damaged or were not arriving the same night of the gig, you know? All those kinds of things you had in the past, and it was too difficult. Nowadays, if you see guys doing live, there are only a couple of them that really use a lot of hardware. The other ones have controllers and laptop and whatever. I don’t say it’s a bad thing, it’s just different. If you want to do a live thing it’s like, a guitarist will not bring a CD with him you know? He will bring his guitar, so.. Bring some stuff where at least you do something. When I did live, I never never never prepared something before, I built tracks on stage, always. But it’s hard. It’s stressful because you know, hardware is hardware and sometimes it works perfectly and sometimes it just doesn’t work - humidity in the club or whatever. And that’s not nice because then you’re actually more stressed about the technical part than you are in putting your creativity on stage, you know? So eventually I went back to DJing, and I’m pretty happy with it.

Very cool. What’s your greatest challenge been in your career trajectory?

To be successful or to have some kind of success there are a couple of factors that are really important. Of course, you need to know what you’re doing, that’s one. Second, you need to have the right people around you, in terms of contacts but also in terms of people who support you. And of course, the third and probably the biggest factor is the luck. So, has it been smooth? It has been smooth but it also has been very difficult at the same time. So, it’s never never think that you’re there. Stay with your two feet on the ground, no problem.

What has been the greatest reward for you? You have two careers, for all of it, what has been the greatest part for you for music and anything else?

For me, the biggest reward I get, in both actually, is that I can somehow satisfy people. In my daytime job I can satisfy people by giving them work that they can get a salary, that they can support a family. And in the other part, the music part, it’s so nice to have respect and support from all over the world. That’s one of the most important things for me, that also keeps me going- that I can meet cultures, I can see people from all over the world. Probably 90% of the world will never have this possibility, or even more, I don’t know. So I sincerely notice, and I am very grateful about it that I am one of those exceptions. But that’s the reason why I want to have respect for them as well. For all the people that support me, that’s the reason.

That’s amazing. Beautiful. You have a record label [Rhythm Convert(ed)], can you talk a bit about it and the vision for it moving forward?

I started it with Marco [Bailey] back in the days and it was only vinyl. Due to changes in the music scene, you know with downloads, the whole scene collapsed. So vinyl was gone, distribution went bankrupt, so we changed three times I think from distribution and at the end yeah, everything went bankrupt again and again. We had artists on the label that needed to be paid royalties but we never got the money from the distribution, so at the end I paid it from my own pocket. I don’t care, for me it’s normal, those people worked for it, it’s not their problem. We are at the distribution that went bankrupt, but after the third time I was so sick of it I stopped. I said Marco let’s stop this, so we stopped for, I don’t know, three years? And then I called him again, and I said, you know, I think I want to re-start but only digital, and let’s see what we can do on vinyl with limited stuff. But since he was doing already two other labels, actually three, he told me I don’t know if I want to have the fourth one, but go ahead, it’s yours, do it. So I took over. I must say it worked very well. Back catalogue coming in again, we did some vinyl in the past, but again it was very difficult to find a distributor that had interesting deals for artists as well. So I did compilations on vinyl but the purpose was to have, in the beginning, a platform for new guys, when I started with Marco. Because we saw all over the world a lot of really good artists, you know? People who had really creative ideas and nice productions and everything but they didn’t have the possibility to get on something. So that’s basically what we did. We put on people who never had the possibility. And if you look at the back catalogue there are a lot of guys who are now very successful, you know? Luigi Madonna, Harvey McKay, Sasha Carassi - all those guys were on it. Egbert, everyone.

Mega..

Actually, Enrico Sangiuliano, who is now always number one, this guy I signed him two times because he never got signed anywhere. For me, those people deserve a platform to get at least noticed. How are you going to get new generations in if you don’t even see them (laughter). I did it for a lot of people, but what I saw at the end was that a lot of.. Let’s say, a lot of producers want to be on the platform because at a certain moment it got a name, that it’s a jumping platform to get somewhere else. So I always ask, you know, in a two-direction way - I help you, just push a little bit from your side. I give them all that they need, press work, banners, artwork, whatever they need. But, the last ten releases or something, let’s call it they were lazy (laughter). So I got a little bit fed up about it, the label, sales, the name, the signature and everything so I think July/August last year, I had a discussion with [my manager] about it and I said to him, I’m going to stop with other people, completely. So this is why we slowed down the releases. So, at this moment I’m only doing releases from myself. I want to get the focus back on it and then I’m going to try to build a small family of people who I really like. Who have been supporting me, I’ve been supporting them, and let’s see..

All within the same sound? Or branching out?

Actually, of course it’s techno, but I like music, in general. So it can be anything, and for the label it has to be something techno, but it’s not that it has to be straightforward techno or melodic or not melodic, or whatever you now? I don’t care. As long as it has a decent sound and as long as the artist believes in his own productions. Don’t build something that you think, okay that’s something you will sign. No, no - do you want to play this?

That’s like to me the definition of the underground vibe, or the real authentic..

Yeah.. and again I’ve been doing this for 20 years so I go way back to a period where things were different. Underground was really underground. Illegal raves and all those things. But it made such a nice bunch of people who loved one thing: Techno. And bringing it to a bunch of people who also liked techno, period. That’s it. When I played in the very first editions from I Love Techno, we did a back to back to back to back to back with all those guys who are now somewhere else, Adam Beyer, Marco Carola, everybody was there. We all did back to backs, you know? Because actually they’re all about my age, so we were all the same guys from the same age, or almost, and just having fun.

And coming up together and creating that community..

Yep.

Community is massive. Fantastic.

Yes, I love it!

You’ve just released your latest EP, Generation Y. I really love it - it’s a lot of peak, banging tracks but there’s still a lot of groove to it. Can you talk about that and what’s next?

Yeah, like you said, my new EP is out and I try to bring back that same Tom Hades signature from before. You already noticed some stuff and I’m happy that you noticed because it means that it’s there. It’s banging but it’s groovy.

Yeah, it’s got soul! It’s got detail and soul.

Every track for me personally, needs to have a story. It’s a building thing. If you skip the needle on a vinyl you would say blah it’s okay, but if you listen from the first second to the last, you will get into this journey, you know? And that’s my typical signature I think. I want to build something that is a journey and it can be different ways. It doesn’t always have to be in the same way, because Back In Time, the last track on the EP? It even has a sound in it that is slightly towards trance even, but I don’t care because actually all those bigger styles, techno, trance they all relate. And like I said before, I like music. And if it fits, it’s perfect for me. I will not think about rules or this can’t be done or this has to be done, this is the arrangement that should be done, no please (laughter). If we were all like that it would be boring.

I found it added a nice balance to the EP..

Yes. Yeah and I always try to have let’s say.. if you divide the night in three, you have a beginning, middle and end. Because you know it’s the same, it’s a story, it’s a journey. You’ve been out all night. Did a lot of stuff.

Amazing. Love that. I could honestly talk to you for a very long time - it’s amazing to hear your insight into the industry. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

At this moment I’m preparing for this little tour that I’m going to do. I’m going to go to Columbia, and I come back and then I go back to Canada, and I come back and then I play in Bosnia and then there’s another one that just came in from Portugal, and then I don’t remember (laughter). I’m really happy, you know. I don’t always play the biggest things, sometimes, sometimes not. But I always try to figure out, when I get to places, what will allow for the mutual respect, you know? And to be honest I almost prefer the smaller venues rather than the bigger because if you see, I played at Tomorrowland, the opening of Tomorrowland and it’s nice there. It’s a big venue, you have more than 8,000 people in front of you, it’s very very nice, but there is no contact with them.

Right. You find when you’re physically removed it makes a big difference..

Yeah, and say the first five rows maybe you can have some kind of impression, but actually you don’t. And of course, it’s nice to play there, I don’t say I don’t like it. But, if I had to choose I would prefer a room with 200 people, 100 people, but fully motivated you know? (Laughter) Going for it! Yes. So, that’s it. (Laughing)

"If there is one thing I constantly preach and push to young kids that want to learn how to DJ, it’s learning with vinyl, learning with the building blocks. Learning the history and the roots from where it all started will make you evolve and become an overall better artist."

Being a long-time resident DJ at one of the most respected clubs in the world for house and techno, Stereo Nightclub in Montreal, where he opened for artists like Ricardo Villalobos, Richie Hawtin and Sasha, implies a certain level of talent, work ethic, skill and one would assume, a deep love for the craft. I’d met Maher before, and knew this, and had seen him play and loved it, but after this interview it’s even more evident the amount of dedication, passion and respect he has for this industry and the people within it. Currently based in Barcelona, with releases on esteemed labels Bedrock, Get Physical and No.19, and playing some of the worlds top festivals and clubs, he's a consistent talent to watch out for and experience. Here he talks his beginnings, mentors, perspective on success in the industry, thoughts on the art of DJing, how he navigates his greatest career challenge and exciting news about his forthcoming album. Enjoy our in-depth feature with this truly accomplished artist and exceptional person!

What initially inspired you to get into clubbing and dance music, and how did that progress into producing and DJing?

When I was younger, I always wanted to do something in music. I studied music in high school, reading it, writing it, I played in the school band and was actually in a lot of my high school plays. So, being an artist of some sort was always in the menu of my life. It wasn’t until I moved back to Montreal from Dubai where I got immersed into dance music, thanks to my older brother. He was Djing, producing and taking me out with them. His rule was, I would rather you were with me than anyone else (laughter). From there it was really a natural progression. I learned how to play records, and wanted to make music and it evolved to where I am right now. The love for the music and art is what keeps me inspired and what I really want to keep doing.

Did you have a mentor for DJing and/or production?

I didn’t have one specific mentor, so to speak, I had a few of them. My brother was in a collective called LSM Productions. It was Ali Ajami (Resident at Avalon and Axis in Boston), Genie (Stereo and LSM Resident) and my brother Michael Daniel. This is back in the early days of Montreal rave culture along side 514 Productions, Playground and the early clubbing scene - so I really had a serious upbringing in the culture, and they really did shape my skills as a DJ. In regards to production, I took what I learned from the dance floor and translated it into making music.

What would your advice be to up and coming DJs and producers? And/or advice about creating success overall in the industry?

Be humble and respectful of your surroundings and the people around you. This life can get into peoples heads really, really quickly and egos start to come out of nowhere. What they seem to forget is that you’re exactly the same as everyone else - you started on that dance floor, you’re just in a different place in this industry now. But the key thing is the people on the dance floor are the ones who got you there - by supporting you, buying your music and buying tickets to your shows. So.. leave the attitude at home do what you do with a smile on your face and respect everyone the same way you’d like to be respected. This is a blessing! So be happy you’re not behind a desk from 9-5.

What’s been the greatest challenge generally as you navigate this career and lifestyle?

Staying positive. This industry has moved its focus from the art of DJing and production to the number of fans you have and social media. It seems like the more and more you have of that, the more you get successful and this becomes frustrating and hard. There are guys out there who are truly passionate about what they do, spending countless hours digging for music, learning how to produce properly and work with gear to really provide quality music, and this usually gets overshadowed.

That being said, the most important thing is to stay positive and throw those frustrations out the door. You can be in the limelight and have as many fans on social media as you want, but that’s just momentary. The music speaks for itself and that’s what will last down the line.

What are the greatest aspects about this career and lifestyle?

Seeing and meeting different people around the world, experiencing different cultures and seeing what this kind of music means to different people around the world.

Can you talk about your perspective on the art of DJing and what that is for you?

Everyone has their own way of looking at DJing, but at the end of the day it comes down to how you put it all together. Beat matching, track selection and programming the story you end up telling the audience is important and translates your feelings on the dance floor. Anyone can buy the biggest peak time banging records and play them, but then you’re like every other DJ out there.

If there is one thing I constantly preach and push to young kids that want to learn how to DJ, it’s learning with vinyl, learning with the building blocks. Learning the history and the roots from where it all started will make you evolve and become an overall better artist.

What’s next for you in terms of production or touring?

Well, I’ve just finished my album which will get released on my own label, it's called The Other Side. The first single will be released in September, which is the official launch of the label with a showcase happening in Beirut on the 17th with Petre Inspirescu at Uberhaus. Then, the second single is in October, and full album in November. With regards to touring, I’m currently sorting out my album tour for the fall and plenty of shows from now until then throughout Europe. Over all keeping really busy and focusing on the music!

"I was super happy making music and I would dream of a day where I could express my music to everyone besides myself in my bedroom. I guess I did believe in myself, I just didn't know I did."

Bouncing between Iran and the US for the early years of his life, Ardalan discovered techno and the underground sound in Iran. A millenial, the Dirtybird producer and DJ discovered his taste in music through friends, parties and online portals, as the internet was most easily at his disposal. As he said, ‘There’s no such thing as a club in Iran, but there is an underground scene. Alcohol and music, or clubbing, is illegal, but the culture is there, people love electronic music.’Eventually landing more permanently in San Francisco, he started DJing and producing, andattended a Dirtybird day party which changed everything… We connected over Skype a few weeks ago and talked life, work, music and fun - his story is equally inspiring as it is interesting, threading Dirtybird moments with thoughts on self-belief, authenticity, creative expression and his ideas on carving out success.

How did you start and where?

Growing up in Iran my dad was a sax player in a band and my mom would occasionally sing with them. Music was always around us. I had guitar and piano lessons for bit but never got around to finishing them until later when I started messing around with chords on my own. I started DJ'ing first when I moved to San Jose - my friend bought two Technics and a Vestax mixer for his garage, which he’d pimped out with a pool table! His house was super close to our school and we would go there and just play the massive record collection he got from the guy who sold him the turntables. I later got a copy of Fruity Loops and slowly learned more about production.

You’ve connected with some influential people along your way - can you talk about the importance of that for you?

Yeah, during my high school years, I had a friend from Iran send me a copy of 'Who's Afraid Of Detroit' by Claude VonStroke. I realized he was based in San Francisco and found out they threw barbecue parties in Golden Gate Park and I didn’t need ID - I wasn’t 21 yet. It was so cool - the music was so good! It was like perfect, awesome music. I just thought I’d love to DJ one day and be with this crew. After that first Dirtybird party, I realized that this is what I wanted to do. It just felt like I really wanted to be there.

It sounds like so much of what you were looking for was right there, and you recognized it…

Yeah, that’s completely true! I was 17 and it changed my life. Over the course of three years, I started meeting them, the OG gang from Justin Martin, Christian Martin and Worthy to eventually meeting Claude and J.Phlip.

Those were the best times for me musically. Early Dirtybird really influenced me to make good music. Eventually, after sending Justin a demo on Facebook, he saw potential in it and helped me finish it, which was later known as 'Mr. Spock' [MJD note: which landed at #2 on the overall Beaport chart]. It was a dream come true and I feel like I still haven't woken up from it! Justin has supported me ever since and has helped me build my career. I’m really grateful for it.

Did you always believe in yourself?

At the beginning I never really did. But I had this fire and ambition inside of me and I really wanted to get a release on Dirtybird and then it just happened. I think when you want something so bad, you can get it. The positive energy that you bring with it, it just happens. If you imagine yourself where you want to be, it can eventually work out for you. I was super happy making music and I would dream of a day where I could express my music to everyone besides myself in my bed room. I guess I did believe in myself, I just didn't know I did.

So cool that that one party had such an influence on you..

Yeah, and it was OG timing for me because that era of Dirtybird is what influences me to make the music. I try to bring back that vibe again. The sound is always changing but for me that moment was the moment I was most influenced.

Was there more of a turning point where you knew this was your thing and you wanted to pursue it?

Yeah, after Mr. Spock became successful. I was in junior college at the time. Initially, I wanted to study automotive design. I loved sketching cars and helicopters because I was always bored in class throughout school (laughter). But then I decided to switch my major to something that was more relative to music production, but was also broad enough to be able to get me a job in different fields as back up. So I went to San Francisco State and did media arts, media communication, music engineering and production.

(photo cred: jack anderson)

What’s your creative process as a producer?

When I initially started making music I would make music like it’s a video game - like, I wouldn’t think about finishing it, it was just like an indulgence. Creating sound for me was like a high, like a dopamine. I would just work on this, and be my own audience. And eventually, getting bored of it and throwing it away and never using it. And then I just started getting more disciplined and [with having Justin as a mentor] realized that it’s actually so much more creative when you’re done with the creating process and you’re just trying to finish the music. For me, making music is just like writing an essay, or for someone that’s designing a floor plan or something.

I also realized that when I’m making music or picking a sound, it’s like I see an image behind that sound. LIke, someone or an object, and that could change the mood. So it kind of makes it like a character to fit the story, or the track. That way I can decide what needs to be there to finish the story. It’s kind of like synesthesia, but I can see the sounds.

Or the emotions?

Absolutely, very true. It is an emotion. That’s how I decide what to put in there, whether it fits the story of the track, the outline. And that’s how I try to finish my music in some ways. When it comes to making decisions for making music, I constantly keep changing things but the more I’m making music, the more I’m at home and in the mode, and I just start seeing it like a story, like, okay this sound fits the story and let’s move on, let’s not go backwards.

I see it like an image, the sound gives me an image, for some reason. This just happens when i’m really into finishing the song and when it’s in auto-pilot mode where it’s like oh, this goes here, this goes here, this sounds good. But for me, I’m just really… it has to be perfect. So when I get those kind of visual scenerios it helps a lot more. It makes my brain just work!

What about DJing?

I think of it basically the same way as making music, like writing a story, except for the fact that I don’t have all the time in the world to make a decision, I have to make a decision at that time, right then! I approach it all once I'm at the party. I can't really plan a DJ set because I won't know the environment until I get there. I like to be spontaneous and I like to read the crowd and see what they want and what I want at the same time. It's a mixture of exciting them with what they want and also surprising myself. I tend to play tracks I know work and tracks I want to play, which can be a risk, but that's where it's most fun! At the end of the day, people want to have a good time and I want to have a good time and I want to give them a different experience and something they will remember.

Like how you remembered that Dirtybird party..

Yeah, exactly!

Production-wise what are you especially digging these days?

Obviously, my roommate Justin [Martin] - I always dig what he cooks and he’s always inspiring me. One of my best friends, Sepehr makes some of the most underrated music, he doesn’t release his music, but his stuff is amazing. I really like Randomer, and Tiger Stripes and this dude from France, Traumer. And a crew from Brighton, Minimal Kids and their sound isn’t even minimal (laughter) - it’s got a Dirtybird vibe to it. And from Dirtybird I really like Bruno Furlan, his new stuff is really great.

Very cool. What’s been most challenging for you?

Just trying to get exposure. Getting people to understand that I’m not one sound. I don’t even know what I am (laughing), I’m not this or that. The challenge is being labeled as something - I don’t want to be pigeon-holed into one sound. It’s kind of hard for people to label me, I don’t even know how to label myself.

Maybe you’re breaking new ground as you go - being totally in the moment as you produce or spin..

Yeah, totally. And all the stuff that I have released right now, some of it I’m not in that sound anymore, and I have a lot of stuff I haven’t released. My recent mixes are a lot darker because I did a mix for the Tehran, a podcast in Iran, and I wanted to make something more deeper and reminds me of home. I like doing different things all the time - I get really bored doing the same thing. Just like everyone else does.

What is your biggest reward?

This whole life is the biggest reward. Finishing a song is the biggest reward ever. If you think about it, I’m getting paid to play for people. I’m finishing a song, so let’s celebrate this weekend at my gig, that’s how I see it. Actually Justin told me, the party isn’t the job, it’s the reward, you know? It’s like the job is making it to the point where you get the gig, so the party is the reward. So for me, that’s the most rewarding thing - at the end of the weekend I get to go play somewhere.

And, yeah, also one of the biggest challenges, and rewards, is I’m trying to keep myself from selling out while also trying to be successful because you have to pay rent. To make successful decisions without being too cheesy.

(photo cred: evan thompson)

That’s the thing, we all have this authenticity we want to pursue, but we also have to put bread on the table..

Yeah, exactly. And some people say you should never mix work with your passion, and sometimes that’s true and sometimes it’s not. But I’m really happy where I am. As much as my challenges are that I don’t want people to misinterpret me or to be pigeon-holed or whatever, I think about it and I’m like, I’m part of such a cool movement, with the Dirtybird guys, we’re successful in America and so many want to be where we are. At the end of the day, it’s about being true to yourself; it’s all about music, less talking, more dancing, more listening, you know?

If you had advice for yourself or others in terms of carving out a path that’s successful, happy - do you have a piece that comes to mind?

Yeah, have fun! Don’t let people judge anything. Just have fun, it’s not a race. If you want to be somewhere, you should have an idea that you want to be there, but it all starts with you and you can be original by doing it for the love of doing it. Have ambitions, don’t listen to the bullshit on social media, like, what you have to do, this way or that way… Use a laptop, use a CDJ, use vinyl - just do whatever makes you happy and find your own path. Get inspired, but also find your own way of doing things.

What inspires you?

Ummm…

I feel like this whole conversation has been about that actually (laughter). I feel like you’ve already answered the question.

Yeah, absolutely! I didn’t know how to say that, but yeah. What inspires me is understanding and being aware of how amazing music is and how it inspires everyone. It inspires me so much that people want to listen to me. My family and the people that are supporting me, that inspires me more to do what I want to do. Just being positive (laughter), as cliche as that sounds. And making it happen, you know? Just working and music, making music inspires me.

And also, playing soccer on the side sometimes. Having a balance. Taking my vitamins. (Laughter) And the people, I think for me they inspire me the most. I want to make them the happiest because they make me really happy. The fans and everyone, they make this possible for me to do what I’m doing. I try and expose that to more and more people - that’s all I care about.

What’s next?

This never-ending tour.. I’ve had like 30 shows since the end of March. I’m looking forward to it with my buddy, Sasha Robotti, who’s an amazing producer. And a nice vacation in Hawaii with my girlfriend! (Laughter) I’m looking forward to Bass Coast Festival in Canada. It’s near Kamloops, it’s going to be awesome, the lineup is so good! I’m looking forward to festival season (laughter). And yeah, I’m just looking forward to life - it’s fucking awesome.

Sydney Blu has been building her career in dance music for over a decade - to take stock of what she’s done is to look back at her chart-topping success on Beatport, with consistent releases on renowned labels, constant touring as a DJ with appearances at major festivals and clubs globally, the Blu brand and Blu Parties, which attract massive industry talent, her label, Blu Music, her weekly radio show, and I wonder if I’m still leaving something out. We sat down to chat at Sunnyside Pavillion’s cafe patio at sunset, overlooking Lake Ontario, while the Blu Party was in full swing next door. We talked all things Blu Party, hard work, inspiration, looking back and taking time for herself (i.e. staying sane) amidst it all. Her latest release, 'Too Clean' a rolling, bass-heavy, vocal banger, came out last week on Toolroom. Enjoy this feature with insights and honesty from this prolific contributor to the underground scene!

How’s it going? How’s today for you?

It’s been a really long, exhausting day but it’s amazing. I work so hard on these shows. They’re different than obviously a regular DJ gig where I show up, I DJ, I go home or back to the hotel. It’s different. I’m involved in this event in every aspect: from the portapotties, to the DJs, to the door, to the promoters, to the local talent, to everything, the decor… Like, every single aspect of the show I’ve been involved in. So, it’s a big production and it’s been a lot of work. Just even getting here today was the biggest challenge.

Are you in Toronto these days?

I am in Toronto yeah, but I had to do a lot of running around and everything. We got here, we were setting up, you know, hanging decor and then doors open. Now we’ve been going, I DJ’d and had a great set and it was wonderful. The crowd is here now and it’s packed. And the DJs that we bring in from out of town, it’s important to me to take care of them too, and they’re having a great time, so that’s good.

How did this all happen? You’ve got your label, your brand, your party.. When you first started, did you think this is what it was going to be?

When I started to DJ, when I started my career 16 years ago, I had hopes and dreams that it would be fucking crazy, you know? I had little stepping stone dreams too. Like, I just wanted to be able to travel, and then I got to do that, and then of course you’re always wanting more. If you’re a person that’s motivated and craves success and is hardworking you always want more, and it’s hard to stop sometimes. You go, wait, I did all this already? I have an issue with [not] doing that and I should do it more. I try to stop and do that sometimes. But, when I started the Blu brand, which was 2008/09, I had a cool idea for a party. It was just for one party in Miami, and I thought it’d go good. I didn’t necessarily think, oh my god, let’s take it on the road and do this in different cities across North America! It’s been really cool to have been able to do that. I want to do everything. I’m a really hardworking person and with everything that I’m doing I want to do so much more, so… I’d love to take this to Europe, I’d love to play bigger shows, I’d like to host bigger shows and hopefully I’ll do that, you know? It’s definitely what I’m meant to do.

(photo cred: alec donnell luna)

With everything you’ve done, what does success mean to you?

Success is looking back on everything and having people come up to me and remind me that I’ve done something right. Like I said, sometimes I don’t stop and realize it. Sometimes you’re just like, what’s next, what’s next? And you don’t go wait, I did all this. So I guess having people remind me, maybe? I don’t know why it takes somebody else to remind me but..

A lot of it has to do with even coming back to Toronto after I’d been away for so long, and people going, wow, you know, you were one of the first girl DJs in the city to do something, and now there are all these girl DJs. Somebody saying that to me makes me feel good because there wasn’t a lot of girl DJs when I started, and now there are a lot. To hear they look up to me means so much. I wasn’t trying to do that, I was just trying to be really successful on my own. I wasn’t trying to be a role model or anything. So when somebody comes up and says something like that to me, which I’ve had, that means a lot. I didn’t set out to do that, but the fact that they say that is great.

What’s the most meaningful part of this whole trajectory?

Being able to do what I love and being in my element. Being here with all these people that have come to see something that I thought up in my head, you know? I have an idea and I’m like, let’s do it. I want to do it and I want to make it happen. When I can make it happen and see it happen, it’s a pretty cool feeling. I’m a daydreamer, so…

I feel like there’s a lot of power in that. What keeps you inspired and grounded?

Consistently seeing amazing things like other festivals, parties, music, DJs. Everything that I love and when I’m out and see something new and I love it - that’s what keeps me going. I love listening to music, that’s what I made my career out of, and every week there’s amazing, incredible new electronic music that comes out and I have a radio show that showcases that. So that makes me tick.

Do you have time for yourself amidst all of this? Although, it sounds like you’re in your own element all the time..

I do, I really do try to make time for myself. I do yoga, I have a dog that I love dearly, like he’s my child. I’m alone a lot in my home working. I work crazy hours, like all day, all night, everyday Monday to Friday, and the DJing is the bonus at the end of the week at this point. But the Monday to Friday, I work longer hours probaby than a person who has a 9-5 job because they end their work at 5, I don’t end my work at 5. I do yoga though, like I said, I take breaks I spend time with my dog, I walk my dog. I do what I need to do to keep sane (laughter).

What’s next for you?

I’ve been writing music like crazy lately, releasing a whole bunch of new music. I have a track coming out next week on Toolroom, I think it’s going to do really well…

You use a lot of cool vocalists.. I saw you play where Starving Yet Full sang with you in Toronto, and Lea Luna..

Yeah, yeah! This girls amazing and she’s a legendary singer, she’s done a whole bunch of work with a whole bunch of other artists and I just think this track’s going to do really well. It’s got like 6000 plays on the Toolroom Soundcloud right now, and yeah, it comes out next week. In addition to that I have a whole bunch of other new music, I’m shopping it, I’m releasing it on several different labels. I have this EP coming out on Kinetika right after that and I’m touring, going to Europe - there’s a lot going on. There’ll be more Blu parties definitely, coming up soon. I need a little break oh my god - I just did Detroit, like four weeks ago, not even, three weeks ago, I don’t even know. But Detroit was not long ago, and then I jumped right into this so I need a little Blu Party down time (laughter) and then we’ll start planning our next ones. I think we’re going to be doing a couple of them in the fall. I think there will be one in Chicago coming up, New York City is in discussions right now, and I think we’re going to be going back to Miami in March, so there’s a lot coming up.

Just to close it out here, is there anything else you’d like to say to your fans, to the people out there?

Thank you! I love you guys and thank you so much for the support I mean, I can’t keep doing what I’m doing without the support - I really appreciate it. I’m really grateful that people are here today, because I was able to bring this party here to Toronto and it’s going pretty well, so, thank you!!! (Laughter) That’s what I want to say, thank you.

Thank you for your time!

Awesome!

Many thanks to Sydney Blu for taking the time to talk, and also to LCPR for setting up the interview!

"We love inspiring people with music - that’s what we’ve always done and that’s what we’re trying to bring here."

- Ben Turner

"...that’s quite a challenge, to get a site like this and turn it into a festival in your mind, and then for it to actually work on the ground. But I think we’ve pulled it off."

- Rob da Bank

I had the pleasure of talking with both Rob da Bank and Ben Turner of Bestival. Ben is one of the directors of Bestival, and group of Bestival companies in the UK. We talked during a media preview, overlooking the main stage build-out the day before the festival. Ben talks love for Toronto, festival beginnings, myriad other projects and inspiring people with music. Festival founder, Rob da Bank shared his perspective on the festival, challenges they've faced and the importance of vibes. Read on for two insightful minds behind Bestival!

Thanks for taking the time to talk here today! Have you been doing this a long time?

BT: Yeah, we’re in year 13 in the UK. It actually began before Bestival in a little tea shop in London called the Tea Room des Artistes. Rob da Bank and his wife, Josie, used to host this Sunday night. I was a magazine editor, Rob worked for me and we used to go there every Sunday and he would always get people like Andy Weatherall and Zero 7, and quite big DJs at the time, to come and play for nothing on Sunday. It was 99p to get in and it was just really good fun, all about the music and that just grew and grew. We did a little stage at Glastonbury one year like that and it was that year that Rob and Josie said, ‘We can do this ourselves, let’s do our own festival.’ So we began year one in the Isle of Wight, it was like five thousand people and then it sort of grew exponentially over the next ten years. Now we’re fifty thousand people on the Isle of Wight every September.

We chose Toronto over every other city in the world to do our first international show. It’s our second year and we’re really, really proud to be back here on a new site and we love this city. We think we have a strong connection with the city in terms of understanding what young people are into musically and I think we have very similar musical tastes. Just feels like a great place for us to be and we’re loving being here.

Is there anything else you’d like to add about Toronto and being here?

BT: We’ve worked very hard, our local partners are Embrace, they’ve done a lot of work in the city and we couldn’t have done it without them. They’re our eyes and ears and help us promote it right on the ground here and we feel we’re doing everything we can to really integrate with the city - from the food that we select and curate, to the drinks and the bars, which are all done by CODA. We’ve tried to really work with the city and make it feel like an event for the city. We just bring our colour and our creativity and our wackiness to the party.

BT: Well, we’re music lovers through and through. We create great events in all the things that we do. For me personally, I’ve always wanted music to progress in terms of the business side of things and for people to connect to new music and discover new DJs and artists and bands. We get a real thrill of turning people on to new music and that’s at the core of what we do here - the fun and creativity around it is the dressing, but it’s also the character. We love inspiring people with music - that’s what we’ve always done and that’s what we’re trying to bring here.

Amazing. Thank you!

BT: Cool!

Many thanks to Ben Turner and LCPR for setting up the interview! Next we have Rob da Bank who founded the festival with his wife, Josie. We chatted Saturday on a grassy hill to the side of, and overlooking, the main stage while Jamie xx performed.

Nice to meet you! How do you feel watching all this that you’ve created?

RdB: Yeah, I mean it’s beautiful. It’s great sitting here and just watching it all happen. It’s a little bit more relaxed than doing the festival in the UK because we’ve got great partners here, Embrace and SFX are taking a lot of the load so, I could kind of just sit here and do nothing and the festival would happen, which is nice. We’ve done kind of all the hard work, and there’s a lot of people working really hard across the weekend to keep it going. But, luckily I’m not one of those people so, I have the privilege of just.. It’s really important to me that everyone’s having a good time, so I’ll spend my time going around and checking the vibes.

That’s what I’ve noticed, the biggest thing, is the great vibes everywhere..

RdB: That’s our goal, really. Yeah, if we sat here and there were people moping around and looking bored and sad then we wouldn’t be doing our job. Every festival that we’ve ever done is this level of production and people come here and they go, ‘Okay, these guys have really put a lot of love into this.’ And hopefully they feel that and give it back.

Yeah, you can tell. What are you most excited about being here in Toronto?

RdB: I mean you know, it’s sitting here, looking out at that crowd enjoying it. But I think it’s doing things like the inflatable church and seeing people get married in there, doing the parade at 7 o’clock where loads of people will just be blown away by that. Hanging out and meeting lots of Torontonians. In the UK I can’t really walk around the festival because everyone knows me and I just get stopped all the time, but here it’s really lovely meeting new people and listening to what they want.

What would the biggest challenge be in putting this together? How do you keep on top of it all?

RdB: Last year we had a beautiful site but it was on an island and we had some problems with the ferries, so we had to start again. That’s quite a challenge to get a site like this and turn it into a festival in your mind, and then for it to actually work on the ground. But I think we’ve pulled it off. I can already see things we need to tweak for next year but, we’d like to stay in one place now and just build it.

How did you feel about your DJ set today - was it fun for you?

RdB: Sort of, yeah. It’s weird DJing your own festival. Your mind’s not really on it so.. I’m sort of coming from checking the toilets and cleaning, to wristbanding people at the entrance or checking if the security are being nice to people, and then you have to jump up and be the showman, and then you have to sort of go off and do stuff. But yeah, I love it. I’m not really a technical DJ, I just play tunes that I think people will like and luckily people in front of me seem to like it so..

(photo: Stevie Gedge - Bestival)

Sweet. What’s next for you?

RdB: Well, my wife’s expecting our fourth child (laughter) next month. She should be here really, she created this with me; she’s back in England. We’ve got two more festivals to go in the UK so yeah, our summers are just nuts, but I’m just looking forward to tomorrow, seeing The Cure headline and then jumping back on the plane and spending some time with my family (laughter).

Awesome. Thanks, it was great to meet you!

Yeah! Yeah, I hope you enjoy the festival!

Big thanks to Rob da Bank for his time and thoughts, and Samantha and Lindsay at LCPR for setting up the interview!

"Holding on to your knowledge because you think it’s going to pay off and people will come to you to pay you for getting it, you’re not participating in this endless wheel of knowledge that is being shared and actually coming back to you even more powerfully."

I’m proud to introduce this week’s guest, someone I’d heard many speak of in Montreal and Toronto with great respect, a producer’s producer and an overall amazing person. Pheek is head of Archipel, a Montreal-based label, a minimal techno (and beyond) producer, a teacher of mastering, mixing, production, post-production, and a live performance artist. Our in-depth talk over Skype was engaging, insightful and fascinating. We weave through his story, touching on his journey into production, experiences and lessons from influential people along the way, including Ricardo Villalobos and a concept that changed his approach to production forever. We talk about being yourself in music, success and what that means, community, contribution and finding your path.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk!

What was your inspiration for getting into music in the first place? I was curious about your process and the journey of how you’ve gotten to where you are today. Were you always interested in music?

Yeah, I’ve always been interested in making music, electronic music to be more precise. And I insist on that because I was enrolled in music classes when I was very young and I was bored to death because this was not what I was meant to be doing. I remember specifically telling my dad, no, I want to work with synthesizers and samplers and I want to do electronic music. He bought me a little organ, something that had some kind of automated salsa button and really cheesy cha-cha settings, like a Casio. And I was even more frustrated because I couldn’t work with it. We’re talking early 80s and at that time to get something was extremely expensive, it was multiple thousand dollars, and there was no way my dad was going to invest in that. But you know, I had a chance to touch music in the early 90’s with a friend who had a studio and started more seriously at the end of the 90s where I decided to create my PHEEK project and do music. The journey has been unfolding itself. Along with influential people that you meet along the journey.

The synchronicities..

The synchronicities as well as, you know, we’re all the hero of our own journey. We can’t really reach destinations without key people that will give you information to get there. We’re set right now in this world where everything is at our fingertips to get any answers whatsoever on anything that we want. A lot of people have been complaining that Facebook is actually putting people apart, which I think is completely not true. I would say that it’s more the gigantic overload of information that probably pulls people apart because people tend less to ask questions and reach out to people, and refer instead to things they’ve been reading online. And so, connections between people become a little bit more difficult. In my case, I come from a psychology background, social service, social science and worked years in a hospital and worked in helping people, teaching kids theatre. I’ve always valued the importance of connecting with people. My inspiration for music really comes from people themselves. Each time I meet someone and talk it leaves a trace and then next time I work on music this seed that was planted will be watered and through music it gently grows into a new project. I think my music is fundamentally social. I really breed my music through social interaction and that’s fundamentally where I am right now.

I love the emphasis on the hero’s journey needing those connections and synchronicities. Is there anybody that comes to mind that you feel has been influential in that way for you?

I clearly remember one time I had a talk with someone in Holland after a set. This guy comes to me and we talk for, I’m not kidding, two hours. There was a lot of people that wanted to talk to me after my set but this guy was just grabbing all my attention, not because he was needy, but more because he was fascinating. At first, I was scared because he looked like a hooligan, but he was the most intellectual person I’ve ever met on tour, ever ever. We talked for two hours and it was amazing. This is why I really am opening doors to people when they want to talk to me. If I can say influential people, who comes to mind of course is Ricardo Villalobos. I’m actually writing a blog post about him. I feel fortunate in life that I came across his path, multiple times. We spent maybe two afternoons where we just talked and he definitely left one of the most permanent impressions on me, one that transcended from the personal aspect to the artistic aspect. His point of view was that music should be effortless. That is something that a lot of people have a problem hearing. His view was that when you play the drum, when you start practicing the drum - because he’s a drummer, that’s his first basis - you play the drum and it’s a bit all over the place and eventually you’ll find your own rhythm, you’ll find your own patterns. Eventually you find this natural groove the more you practice, the more you do it. What comes naturally is with no effort. You just do it because it feels good doing it. He was explaining to me that he never has made music where he was like, Oh god, what am I going to do? Why is this not working? No, he just does the track. He feels it, when it doesn’t work he stops, he does something else. I’ve always had that approach, and it literally completely changed the way I produced ever since we had that talk because I really saw music as something extremely playful and full of welcoming whatever was going to be presented to me. Whenever something feels difficult I can question, why is this difficult, what am I battling with? And sometimes it’s a personal thing, it’s not actually the song itself being problematic. The minute I distance myself from it, what appears to be a problem is not a problem, it’s actually an opportunity to maybe do something different with the song. Then, the effort is gone, it just becomes natural.

There’s other people I could name like Tim Hecker or Francois Lebaron from Montreal. Him and I spent countless hours talking about music. He has a very precise way of seeing it. Hearing him left a great impression on me, where I understood that personality in music is one of the most important things, and that I needed to be completely myself in what I do. That has been extremely valuable.

That whole concept of being completely yourself… How do you approach that as a producer or playing live?

I don’t know if you can become more yourself. I don’t think you are less or more, you’re just always yourself. Just in a different stage of your evolution as a person, as an artist. I think you become more transparent between what you present and what you do. It’s kind of a challenge to embrace that idea because as a musician, and this is where a lot of people get lost, you lose your goals. You start making music for certain reasons. Eventually, what will quickly catch up to you is the necessity to do a release and the necessity to do a second release, and to do an album and then to release on this label and that label, and to do vinyl and then a double-vinyl and then to tour and then to release on more and do a remix and.. I mean people start, just wanting to do some stuff, and quickly it becomes a crazy bucketlist of things based on the career of other people that they admire. But who are you in that? Is it really you to do all that? Do you need to do that? Can you come back to making sound and music that actually brings something enriching to your life? That for me is the main thing people do in music - they sort of lose themselves in trying to follow other people’s paths instead of making their own.

I decided to offer free coaching as a way of giving people feedback on their tracks and to answer questions when they have technical questions, so far it’s been really awesome. I’ve had a lot of people that have registered, it’s fun for me and I think for them, but I get a lot of people that contact me not for the reason I thought they would contact me at first. I’d say that a lot of people get anxious and depressed because they’re not being themselves in music, but they don’t know that. The work that I do with them, I don’t want to get into therapy because it’s not therapy, but as a coach and as a person that just cares about other people in general, I’m just trying to bring them to realize that if they do music for themselves, that’s the only thing that will actually really matter at the end of the day, more than if they get 1000 listens on Soundcloud or if they get an answer from a label.

It’s perhaps like a redefining of success as doing something that intrinsically feels good, doing it for yourself and that’s a success instead of 1000 likes on Soundcloud…

Yeah, you know the Maslow pyramid?

Yes, like self-actualization?

Yeah and also the layers of different things you go through in your life - you need a foundation of physical needs to be met and so on? There’s two layers, some of the top ones, where you feel that you are part of a community and eventually feel that you are respected and acknowledged for what you do. I think it’s very human to have the need to feel that you are a part of something and that you feel that what you do is actually cool. Whatever means that people find when they go through their life, and at some point, you know, they work, they want to do something else, they want to do something different, they go to an event and they get inspired to do music and they start making music and the next thing they want is they want to be part of this. And they want their music to be acknowledged, but a lot of people think that if their music is acknowledged then they will be part of the community, instead of being part of the community to then get acknowledged. And the concept of success where your music is being reviewed by magazines and played by DJs that you love, which is the top of the pyramid because you’re kind of approved, will come if your community actually supports that. If you run for something without having the other base, you get completely lost. It’s sort of abstract, but for me success is how are you connected with your community. And it’s not about how many likes you have on Facebook or how many friends you have, but more, are your friends in love with your music? Are your friends coming to see you play when you play in your living room? To me, that says that it’s amazing. I lost a bunch of friends because I started making music. And a lot of DJs went through that. I redefined my circle of friends - eventually some people who discovered what I did wanted to become friends with me and I started connecting with other people that also make music.

At the beginning, releasing was kind of in my bucket list, but I was way more excited to go spend an evening with someone who also has machines and makes music so that we could talk about our love for kicks and bass and maybe find a way to understand what side compression was at that time, you know? Or talk about this record that came out that blows our mind.

(photo: Mira Ba)

Love it. What do you feel has been the most rewarding aspect of being a teacher?

There’s many things I’d say. What comes to mind right away is to see people lighten up in their face. And seeing the potential of the information that they just acquired and how it will be translated in their life and the joy it will bring them - to me that is the most exciting thing. Giving out information, secrets, tips, hacks and anything that I’ve learned through years to people, for many it’s a sacrilege or it’s not good because I’m kind of selling out, but my only thing that really matters to me is that there’s more great music out there. What’s beautiful is when a student comes to me with a song they made from the information I passed them and they actually inspire me back.

Beautiful. It’s that cycle of giving and receiving…

This is what it’s supposed to be about. Holding on to your knowledge because you think it’s going to pay off and people will come to you to pay you for getting it, you’re not participating in this endless wheel of knowledge that is being shared and actually coming back to you even more powerfully. Because it’s been ingested and infused in other people’s minds, and people blend that with their own inspiration, their own culture, their own love, their own passions - they spit it all back to you because you gave it to them at first, and then you absorb this kind of energy and that is just the most powerful gift that you can get. And it came because you gave it first, and now it comes back, you know? So that’s what teaching for me is, and the most rewarding thing.

Amazing. So you do production and play live and teach, are those all just as rewarding in terms of your vision for what you want to create?

I have the current teaching work that I’m doing, I’m also doing a lot of engineering. Mastering, mix down, production, post-production and I’m also a label manager, so I’m a man of many hats. It’s kind of crazy but (laughter) that’s kind of what my life is right now. Waking up in the morning is really exciting to me because I know my day is going to be awesome. I know that coming to the studio I’m going to meet my clients, I’m looking forward to see who’s going to be my first client of the day sending me questions or booking me or discussing a project with me. It’s just really really really exciting because, you know, being a label owner is great; you talk with artists and you find a project and you release it. But being an engineer and working tightly with labels, you’re sort of part of a very important role which is defining the personality of the label with the owner and the artists, and I love it. I could talk about it for hours (laughter). I just love doing that and how people are excited and proud to present their tracks. Sometimes people say I battled my track for hours and hours, and then then I received the master and it sounds exactly like what I was dreaming of, and now I’m so happy. This is the kind of stuff I want to hear, you know? This is the kind of thing I wake up in the morning for.

Amazing. That’s awesome. Along those lines, I was interested in your creative process in that there’s both the technical preparation as well as mental preparation. Do you have any insights or advice for people about the mental side of preparing to do what you do, to be in the zone where you’re loving it and cool things are being created - do you have a certain mode of operating in terms of your mindset?

Yeah, I think the key thing that helps me the most with mental preparation is to remind myself 24 hours in advance, and like every hour until I play, and before I play I tell myself, the live set will not go as I expect. Because it will never - there will be a problem there will be things that don’t work and for years I found a few tricks to get myself really in the zone, which is sort of a general psychology rule of life, which is to start with something you feel comfortable with and build trust with the people that are out there. You kind of need to present yourself in very simplistic terms so that people can understand what you’re doing. Since my music has a certain level of complexity, I can not start with what I’m going to present to them in an hour. After I start, things start to become complicated and weird, and this is the stuff I like to do, and I need to build trust to get there. But once you have trust, people will follow whatever you are doing, which is really great. I think in terms of preparation, I see the importance of visualizing what you are going to do. I had the chance of meeting one of the coaches of Cirque Du Soleil. They hire psychologists who work with the athletes and artists to make sure they can perform each night and be 100% and never make mistakes. These guys are really coached intensively. Before I toured, I had access to one of these coaches and I went to a couple of sessions to see how they do it and there’s a lot of visualization that is applied. It’s a little bit difficult to squeeze this information into this chat, but it sort of comes down to.. It’s funny, I just had this flashback to when Ricardo was talking about how he visualizes when he plays and I think it makes sense. For him, it’s about being with friends and he creates these sorts of like… in his mind he imagines, what is the perfect context? What is this context out there right now, and what is my perfect context? And how would I play if I were to play to my friends right now, in this context? So he invokes friends and family in his mind and plays for them, in a way. A lot of people when they work they have pictures of family members on their desk, and that is for a very specific reason. When you have people you love looking at you, you perform better. So, imagining a family member or friends, alive or dead, are there to support you, really brings the best out of you.

Love that. So awesome. If you had to give yourself a piece of advice from today to back 10, 20 years ago, what would that be?

Yeah, chill the fuck down (laughter).

Yeah, right?! (laughter) That could be it.

That was kind of a joke but of course in any joke there’s a part truth. It’s very difficult because I see myself in the past with the mistakes I’ve done, or so-called mistakes I’ve done, and problems, and it’s like, each period of your life you’ll be going through difficult moments and you’ll be at some point ten years later thinking, what can I have said to myself to make things better? But, if you really look at who you were back then, you could have said that piece of advice and I don’t think it would have changed anything because that’s who you were. The only thing you can have is some kind of compassion for that person that you were back then and say, well, you really tried your best, trying to deal with the stress that you were going through and the difficulties you were handling and you thought that by doing things in a specific way would actually make things better. I think if I could meet myself, and time travel and get back there, the only thing I would say is just, continue being open hearted and don’t fight the sensitivity and the fragility that you have as a person because if you repress that then you repress a good part of your creativity as well. I think those things are really fundamental to my development. And also, to focus on development all the time, and never stay still. Or if you stay still, be aware of it. Stillness is also a really powerful state of mind, if you know how to embrace it.

That’s awesome. Is there any thing else you’d like to add about your perspective on music, why you’re making music?

Well, there was a time where I really questioned why I was doing music and nowadays when I start asking why I’m doing music, I just know that I’m over-thinking. And I know that if I over-think I end up not doing anything and get a little depressed or, like it will go against my production. I don’t think, I act more, I try to just do it. The other day I spent twelve hours working on projects - it was really insane but what really impressed me was at the end of the day in the last few hours I was actually at my best, you know? And someone asked me, how do you do that? How can you make stuff and at the end of the day still be creative, still be on point, still understanding and not getting lost? I think it’s really about taking care of yourself as much as possible. If you’re in good health, if you’re feeling good about yourself, if you can just be in contact with how you feel, I think this is when the best part of your creativity and art will emerge. And then this is why we’re doing music - it’s mostly because there’s a lot of emotions inside and it’s difficult to keep that inside and to digest it and to live with it so one of the things that artists do is they get reactive with their emotion and they channel it through sound. The more production they get, the more intense or complex their music, sometimes the more emotional they are. It’s kind of their way of expressing or putting things together. And this is also why people that are really emotional get really attached to certain songs because it kind of represents something inside that they can’t really put their finger on, and they find an artist that can actually express it better than anything else. Music brings out the best in all of that. There’s certain songs I swear to god I work on, I do engineering on, and I have the impression that I’m digging in the soul of the artist and getting to know them personally.

Beautiful. You have a new EP coming out, and Mutek coming up - what’s next for you?

For Mutek I have a workshop coming up on mixing. This year has been crazy. Since the beginning of the year, when I launched my services online, I think I’ve participated in over 100 projects (laughter). There’s releases on my label and people have asked me for remixes, EPs - so I have a bunch of EPs coming. At least four have been scheduled and are done, and an album. It’s kind of overwhelming. The more I’m doing the more it seems it’s working.

That’s awesome. Sounds like it’s just the beginning.

Finally, I was interested in the community aspect… and also, in people loving what they do, really honestly digging it - like it doesn’t seem like you’re working. I think it’s amazing that you’ve created this thing where you’re excited to wake up everyday.

To me the artist and community aspect is I think a necessity for our society. If you look economically speaking, artistic movement brings people together. It makes people move from a long distance to get to another place, if we’re talking about sculpture or amazing paintings or architecture, people will travel the world to see beautiful things. When it comes to music, with global sharing, it sort of creates these little micro bubbles here and there, and eventually these get bigger and bigger, or they simply die and become something else, but when they grow the artists want to get closer to each other. We’ve seen people moving to Montreal just because of our artist community here, for Mutek the attendance is like 50% or more from outside Montreal so, creating community is sort of the only thing I can do to create a ripple in this huge world. We have no power over the major influences of the world, but we do have ripples we can send in this world through communities, through art, through music and I value and try to bring as much of who I am and the art communication I’m doing so that it reaches out to people that need it the most. It’s like when you buy organic food you are sending a message to the industry that you support that kind of stuff, and I think that as a community that when you’re with people and when you’re helping them out, you’re showing them that there is someone validating who they are. When you work with them and support who they are, you encourage them to grow as musicians, as people as well in taking care of themselves. You reinforce positive behaviours that they have, and that’s my work and contribution that I can give to this society. To support people to develop themselves, to become better people, to become artists that create rich content, personal content, something that they will also reach out through other sphere’s of people and thus the sound that we can create as a community, as people who work together, has a power that we’ll never have if we work alone or if we work to have business-oriented goal only. It’s a very different mind set. And so, when I come here [to the studio] working, I’m not here working for me alone, I feel that I’m working as part of a modus operandi that is bigger than even what I can really imagine. And I don’t really know the extent of what I’m doing, maybe I’ll get the harvest in a few years, but I know that what I do now, works and what validates my work is the fact that people are coming and coming, and people bring customers, and refer me to other people. So it seems that it’s settled into something that makes a difference. I am only fortunate to be a part of that. It seems like I found my path.

I would say so! Thanks so much for taking the time here to talk. It’s been special and awesome and I could keep talking for days!

Here’s a straight knowledge drop from music lawyer, Mark Quail. Often referred to as the ‘techno attorney’, Mark works with a slew of music producers, managers, record labels, and artists including Richie Hawtin, John Acquaviva, Art Department and many more. He took some time last week to talk with MJDLive where he dished his advice for DJs on when to hire a lawyer, his well-informed thoughts on digital sampling, downloads, streaming, copyright, how he got started and lessons learned. Get a glimpse into the business of music, with insight into historical trends and thoughts about the future in this exclusive, in-depth interview with one of the industry’s top lawyers.

For the DJs, producers or musicians in the house wondering about the law side of it all, this one’s for you!

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today - I’ve always been interested in the inner workings of the industry.

No problem, I’m happy to help out!

You’ve been at this for a long time and I was just wondering, have you always been interested in music? How did this whole thing start for you?

I knew I was going to be a lawyer since I was 11 or 12. A teacher in grade school said, “You’d be good as a lawyer”and that just kind of stuck in my head. Lawyers seemed to make a lot of money and I thought, ok, this is interesting. In high school, I remember reading an interview with music business people in Rolling Stone magazine, so this would be the mid 70s, and there was a gentleman there who was described as a music lawyer, and I said to myself (laughing), wait a second, you can be a lawyer and work with musicians? By that point I was a music fanatic. I’d caught the record buying bug, probably a few years before that, but definitely by ’75/’76 when I had a little bit of spare dough. I was buying rock records constantly. Once I saw that there was such a career, that kind of guided me through. Going through a BA at university was just to get to law school, and when I got to law school I took whatever courses they had related to music, which, at that point in time really was only one on intellectual property. I also did a directed research course on copyright law and digital sampling. So, I knew early on that I wanted to be a lawyer, and it was just a matter of matching what I wanted to do career-wise with my passion, which was music.

That’s amazing. So you’ve been in the industry for decades and you’ve seen a lot of changes, what are some of the biggest patterns or changes you’ve seen?

I think the first one that I saw definitively was the rise of digital samplers in the mid-80s. That had a massive impact because, for the first time, guys were chopping up other people’s records, both the record and the song, and putting it in new records - that raised all sorts of legal issues. And, as you know, that sort of thing first became public knowledge in the world of rap music, it was fundamental to the way rap music was produced. I mean, you had people lifting other people’s melodies here and there in the past, 1930s, 40s & 50s, but in the 80s, with the widespread digital sampling technology, that was the first time the record was being copied verbatim. It was a digital signal, it was 0’s and 1’s and it was lifted and dropped into another record and referenced that way. So, that raised a whole host of copyright issues. It gave rise to a few law suits, it gave rise to whole new departments in major labels that would clear samples, because ultimately, that’s the way that issue was resolved. There never really was a Copyright Act amendment dealing with all that. The business moved faster than the law could change and it was simply handled as a business affairs matter as the years wore on. So that would be the first instance in the mid-80s.

The second I think would have to be the rise of CDs and the demise of vinyl. That was pretty cut and dried. It was like one week in, I think about 1989, where the record companies had planned this. They had just said, “Okay, we’re not producing vinyl anymore, everything’s going to CD.”It wasn’t a gradual changeover, it was pretty definite and set. That changed things quite a bit because the pricing of CDs was closer to $20, vinyl records at the time I think had peaked out at somewhere around $7 or $8. So all of a sudden the record business was starting to make a lot more money. The records were still selling by the ton, but now the gross income going to the record companies was a whole lot more. So the sales of CDs throughout the 90s really turned the cash tap on for major labels. They could reissue all those old records that had only been on vinyl prior to that, and they were making a fortune off reissues. And of course, many new releases were doing very well too. So that hit the industry with a lot more cash.

And was that cash mostly going to the labels, or were artists seeing some of that?

Well, artists were making a little bit more money, especially new artists at the time. The old artists would have been stuck with their crummy royalty rates. But the new artists would have been able to participate in that, so it was spread around a bit. But, what it really meant was that record companies were flush with cash in a way that they had not been before. And what that meant was that they were able to take more chances on signing bands. I think the old ratio was they’d sign 10 bands and really only one would sell, but the one would sell so much that it would cover the losses of the other 9. So the money, in that sense, was spread around to artists, but it wasn’t a sort of equal payment to musicians and artists at the same time, it was the record company dropping a boatload of dough on some potential big star, only to have that particular record in most cases not sell. And the artist would get dropped and that would be the end of that.

And then the third change, as most people are probably aware of now, was the rise of Napster in about 2000. And that is where the problems with piracy that we’re facing today started. When digital files could be fired down a pipeline and there was a loss of control over the distribution channels by which record companies had made their money. Distribution was the main power that any major label had. They could get the records into stores, and they could get paid for those records. If you didn’t pay the record company, you the record store weren’t going to get the shipment in the next week and you’d be out of business. So the record company’s distribution channel was their main power. When they lost that power, starting in 2000, with the advent of digital downloads, it sort of turned the world on its head. And what was once a 40 billion dollar a year business internationally is now down to something like 13 or 14 billion dollars internationally. So, yeah, it’s a radically different world now.

That’s incredible. So from now looking forward what kinds of trends or patterns do you see emerging?

I think digital downloads, which have been in decline now since about 2013, maybe 2014, I think that’s going to continue. I think the streaming services will rise and continue their rise, whether it’s Spotify or Apple music or something that may come out tomorrow, I don’t know. YouTube may continue it’s all powerful presence by doing something slightly different too. But what I see is a world where there’s music on demand. Ideally, the consumer will be paying for it and it will be treated like a utility. And that money will go into a pot that will then be distributed to those whose music is being streamed. On top of that, I hope that the royalty systems that are in place, the so-called “neighbouring rights”for the performance of the record and then the performance rights related to the song, there’s kind of two separate copyrights that are triggered when a song is played and when a record is played, those systems have got to be improved. They’re kind of in place now, but they’re not the best. So, between the monies that the streaming services will pay to the record companies and then to the performing rights organizations, I would hope that we could re-birth this evolving industry into something good again.

During the Depression in the 30s, most of the labels that had grown up in the 20s went bankrupt and the few that didn’t bought up all the other ones. It was an interesting business back then but it wasn’t huge. Well, that turned into a powerful cash cow by the 70s, so it took 40 years to recover from the Great Depression. Now I’m hoping (laughing) that the streaming world won’t take 40 years to recover and turn into something good again. I’m hoping that can be done in the next decade. It’s been 16 years since the advent of Napster, a few of us are still around and we’ve survived and various record companies and musicians are still going. And I hope that we all can continue and that the new generation of musicians and record label owners will be able to thrive in the future. So, I’m hoping for something better in the next decade. But I’m pretty well sure it’ll look like a streaming service with the payments and the royalties that’ll generate.

What’s your favourite part of what you do? And how would you describe what you do?

What I do is I negotiate contracts and put deals together. And that kind of is the favourite part of my job - I like negotiating contracts. I pride myself on knowing the business of music inside out and then applying that knowledge to a contract to ensure that my client, whether it’s a record company or an artist, is getting the best deal possible. And it’s interesting in this world too, because the best deal possible doesn’t mean that one side wins and one side loses, it means that both sides have to be happy, because if they’re not, you’re going to end up divorced really quickly. And that’s not fruitful in a creative relationship, whether you’re a music publisher signing a writer or a record company signing a performing artist. It’s an interesting job in that case. So when I’m negotiating against other lawyers, you know, things can get heated sometimes if somebody digs in their heels on a certain point, and one of us disagrees with the methodology, but for the most part, we lawyers all kinda get it, and we strive to make sure the best deal points are possible. We need to ensure everybody’s happy because then that should lend itself to a fruitful and profitable relationship for both parties. So, that’s kind of what I enjoy the most from the legal side. I mean, it’s a great world to be in, yes you’re going to music festivals and yes, you’re backstage and hanging out with some pretty creative and inspirational people. I get to travel and go to good music centres all around the world. But when it comes right down to the legal stuff, what I’m kind of known for and happy to do is pounding out contracts that will serve the purpose of my clients.

Very cool. So, although perhaps born out of necessity, at what point does an artist need a lawyer, in your opinion? I was just curious if you had one piece of advice for DJs?

Oh sure, I get that question a lot, and the answer is this: you should have a lawyer before you have a manager. And mostly because you will sign a contract with a manager and you will need a lawyer to negotiate that contract. But you won’t sign a contract with a lawyer. The relationship with attorneys is simply one of engagement. You’ll sign an engagement letter with a lawyer specifying the type of advice that the lawyer will give on entertainment related matters and that’s it. The client can hire and fire lawyers at will. I often say, you can have as many lawyers as you can afford. So, having a lawyer first is kind of crucial because the money you might spend on an hour’s consultation can be of good value. In that time the lawyer can set you straight on what to do and what not to do right out of the gate. You’re not guessing at that point, you’re certainly not signing anything that could jeopardize the next few years of your career, in a sense put you “on hold” if you sign a bad deal and you’re in with somebody who won’t let you out of the deal. Timing in an artistic career is crucial. If you miss your timing, all other things being equal, you might miss out on your career. So, having that type of perspective and that type of advice at hand, early on, is crucial.

That makes a lot of sense. What are some of the lessons you’ve learned or most meaningful take-aways from your work and your own career?

I’m fortunate that most of my clients, in fact pretty well all of my clients, listen to me. They stay out of trouble that way. One of the reasons I got into music law was because I kept reading about musicians from the 50s, or blues musicians and whatnot, who had been ripped off, by either their record company or their manager. I was always astounded to hear that somebody who had had a big hit at one point in their career, was now living in a trailer park in Florida or something like that. And I’d hear these terrible stories and that just made me mad, and so one of the things that I wanted to do as a lawyer was to protect those who needed it. So, I get into the business, and I’ve been doing it now for 26 years as a lawyer and about mid way through, say 15 years in, I kept seeing some of the same things over and over again and I realized, sometimes it’s not the record label or the manager that rips off the artist, it’s the artist shooting themselves in their own foot. And that was kind of an eye-opener mid-career when you realize this, you see the patterns over and over again, and you realize this guy or girl is doing it to themselves. And fortunately, I haven’t had to save too many clients from themselves. I’m gratified that they listen to what I say and follow the advice. But that was one big realization. Any naiveté I had before, well that was now gone, having had many years experience with many different types of artists and personalities.

The other take-aways from the whole thing are, don’t sign anything unless you know what you’re signing. Certainly, another take-away if you’re an artist and you’re starting to make some money, sign your own cheques, meaning don’t trust anybody with your finances. You are where the buck stops as an artist. And if you give too much authority to your managers or your business managers or your accountants, you might find yourself in a bad situation. I’ve seen loads of instances with big name artists who’ve sued former managers and former accountants for mishandling their money. Bottom line is you’ve got to be responsible for your own affairs, and I put that succinctly when I say, “Sign your own cheques.”

What inspires you?

New music. You know? It’s always music, right? But with the emphasis on ‘new’. It’s those people, those musicians, that are doing something underground, unexpected, that when you hear it, whether it be in a club or at a festival, in your car… when you hear it on a proper sound system, and it’s something new, you get the shivers up your back and that alone is an experience I’ve that been fortunate to have over and over again. And you never know where it’s going to come from. But when you do get it, it is inspirational and it does help to drive you forward and keep you going. Whether you be involved in a record label with that sound or you’re representing an artist with that new sound and helping them through the beginnings of their career.. Yeah, it’s just the innovation that inspires me. Bound up in that are the creative forces and the artistic temperament that goes into taking in the world at that point and then turning it into some bit of audio that captures the spirit of the times. Then everybody else listens to it and says wow, I feel this too, and lo and behold you’ve got a hit on your hands. That’s very inspirational.

Plus, I guess the other thing too is that I’ve met a lot of cool people. And I’m still in business with a bunch of them, and that’s kind of cool. I’ve got longevity with a really good crew of other business people and musicians and everybody’s still vital in what they’re doing. They’re finding new ways to channel what they did in the 90s, and every bit of it is vibrant. That’s inspirational to be a part of and to play the role of the lawyer keeping everything on track. Making sure the way they see things, actually comes to pass.

Amazing. So to tie it all up, speaking of newness, what’s next for you? What are you most looking forward to?

Well, I’ve been working on a bunch of projects. For the past 2 years I’ve been working with Richie Hawtin on this new DJ mixer that was just announced on May 4th, so that cat is out of the bag.

I’ve only heard incredible things about it..

It is a very interesting piece of hardware, and it is a piece of hardware, it’s not software which was the trend up until now. This is the equivalent of a new guitar and it’s a different approach to what a DJ console can be. I’m hoping that the newness of the features that Rich and Andy Rigby-Jones have built into this thing are such that people say, yeah, this is the next phase of what a DJ needs as a tool to be able to sound at that next level,. So that PLAYdifferently mixer is obviously one thing I’m going to be watching very closely having been involved right from the get go.

One of the other things is a movie that my business partner, John Acquaviva, was involved in and one of the artists I work with named Olivier Giacomotto did the score for. It’s a movie called The Red Man. It takes place in the electronic music world, but it’s kind of a cross between a Roman Polansky thriller and a Brian De Palma film noir, psychological-type drama. The movie is finished and we’ve had it in a few film festivals and it’s done very well. John is off to Cannes next week to the film market. We’re looking for distribution right now. It’s the first time I’ve been involved with a film to that degree, as the production lawyer. But I knew the director/scriptwriter, Jimmie Gonzalez, both John and I went way back with him and when he came to us with this idea and the script, we thought, yeah this is something that we can fund, so we all made it happen together.

That’s incredible, you’ve got your hands in a lot of pots, that’s awesome. Thank you so much - it was so interesting to hear you talk!

Introducing MJDLive's next guest, Johnny Trika! We had a very cool conversation where he talked candidly about his start, biggest challenges and rewards so far, approach to playing live, production talk, advice to his younger self, and we even squeezed a story involving a unicorn into the mix..! A talented, minimal techno producer based out of Montreal, he’s released two EPs on renowned label, SCI+TEC, with a third on the way. Constantly honing his craft, whether in the studio or for his live sets, he is one to watch as he expands creatively. Thrilled to give you this compelling conversation and a glimpse into his artistic process and mindset.

Thank you for taking the time to talk today!

Thank you!

Where does your sound come from? I’m curious about how you approach sound design and sound creation..

Well, I try not to think about it too much. I don’t really force what I’m going to make. It’s hypnotic almost, my music, and I like modulation, I put a lot of effects on some sounds. There can be one sound, and all these effects on it, and it can turn into this completely new, weird sound. A lot of my tracks have these weird things going on at the same time, unique sounds. Sort of like the trademark of my music. I have maybe a bit of an idea in my head, but not much, it just unfolds and unfolds, like ‘Oh this sounds good, maybe I’ll work on this more.’

It sounds like consistently getting yourself in the studio is the thing to do.. and then seeing how it goes from there..

Ya, exactly. Sometimes I have a bit of an idea of a melody or something. Even some sounds or patterns, but I never have an idea of a full track.

Do you just go and sit and..

Ya, I start playing around with sounds and see what comes out. And if it sounds good, it sounds good.

How did it start for you? How did you start to produce, and who have you learned from?

I started going to parties here [in Montreal] in 2011. My first party was actually Bal En Blanc (laughing). Some of my friends convinced me, ‘You should come everyone’s going, it’s electronic music.’ Because everyone was into hip hop, all of my friends, so I’m like, okay why not? So I went and I was like, wow, you know? It was crazy - visuals, big stage.. all these trance guys.. Markus Shultz, Ferry Corsten.. All the big trance guys.. That was really big a couple years ago in Montreal. So slowly got into that. Then I started going to some Circus [club] events because they were doing some big trance events, and so then I was more and more hooked. But I still wasn’t making music then. I was really passionate about the music and I remember Circus had this monthly night which was techno. It was called Dark Knights. And they would bring an international in once a month. It was techno, but really heavy techno, like hard, 130 bpm techno - really fast stuff. I started going to those events slowly, then more and more and then it was like a huge switch. Like, everyone switched to Stereo, and Stereo started booking more techno acts and sorta took over the scene in Montreal. That’s when I found out about Dubfire and Carl Cox and all these guys and I guess that’s when I just started wanting to make music. All these people were making music and I’m like, let’s see what I can do, you know? I wasn’t really thinking much about it, it was sort of like a hobby.

So you literally just bought the software and sat down and..

Ya, I bought Logic. I had a few VST [Virtual Studio Technology]’s and started playing around a little bit. For a good year my music sucked really bad, (laughing) like, it was really, really bad. Through that year I learned a lot. It started from harder techno, and then it went into more minimal techno, like what I do today. The day I got connected with Dubfire was end of 2013 at Stereo. I was making music but, whatever, it was okay, you know? And one of my friends told me, you should give some of your music to Dubfire on a USB. I was like, no you’re crazy (laughing), I’m not ready for that. But he was like, do it, you pretty much have nothing to lose. So I thought about it a bit and I ended up doing it. He messaged me like a week later. Like, ‘I really like one of the tracks, keep sending me music.’ So then I realized, oh wait, maybe my music is good, you know? That helped my self-confidence a bit. I got really inspired after that and I made a lot of music. Until today I’m still making a lot of stuff. That was really the turning point. Ever since then I send Dubfire almost everything. And he’s helped me out, to get in contact with some other people and through the years, 2-3 years now, I’ve met other DJs and I send them music too. So, that’s the story (laughter)

Wicked.. love that. I was curious.. Did you learn from tutorials on YouTube? How did you learn?Ya, definitely YouTube helps. Not everything on YouTube helps, there’s a lot of bad stuff that doesn’t really work on YouTube. But no, most of the stuff is actually legit stuff. In the beginning I would listen to a lot of music to understand the formula of the track and how they were made and how to make a full track. I find a lot of people struggle with that. They get a loop going, a really nice loop, but they don’t know, ‘Okay, what do I do with this now?’ So I learned, thank god I learned early, very early, how to build a track. So over time it got easier and easier and faster and faster to build a formula. Now it comes really easily to me.

Cool, that’s really cool. So breaking down the layers and stripping it back and figuring out how to arrange it..Ya arrangement is really important.

Actually, you just answered my next question - what happened in those years between 2011 and 2014 when you’d met Dubfire and released your first EP?Well, it was funny because he wanted to sign.. there was one track on a compilation that SCI +TEC was doing, and I obviously agreed to it. Then I got really inspired and I was sending him so much stuff that he’s like, ‘Okay, forget the compilation we’re going to do your own EP’, like first EP. So that was like a big deal for me. First EP ever, on SCI+TEC.

On SCI+TEC - which is insane (laughing).. That’s a good start - a crazy great start..

Ya, that’s a good thing.What’s next in terms of production?My next release on SCI+TEC is going to be in August. It has Daytripper, Double Trouble and Eighth Voice, so those three tracks. I believe those are three solid tracks that are going to do pretty well. I have a lot of unsigned stuff, but the ones that I want to sign I’m saving them and will probably have a fourth release in the works now.

What have your biggest challenges been, and your greatest rewards, so far?

The biggest challenge I think would be to always make good music. Because sometimes you get in the studio and it just doesn’t work. And you invest that time and nothing really comes out of it and it’s a little bit frustrating. I guess that’s the hard part because you get really motivated and you go in the studio and it doesn’t come out the way you want it, you know? You’re not really happy with what you’re making. It’s happened a couple times where I make tracks that are just dead end tracks like, what am I going to do with this, you know? But, at the end of the day, you learn something with every track, I believe, so..

The biggest reward.. I’ve had quite a few memorable ones. Honestly, my last show was unbelievable. It’s this event company in Valencia called Barracca. They book all the big guys..

I saw Skream was on the bill.. Popof..

Ya, they do an event a month or two events a month or something like that. It’s this club, like 20 or 30 minutes from the city centre. It’s outside, in the middle of nowhere. It’s this huge club, like 1000, 2000 people or something, two rooms. They have this unicorn in the middle of the dance floor, you’re playing and there’s people on the unicorn! I’m like, what the hell’s going on! (Laughing) The lights were really cool. The energy was unbelievable. Definitely my funnest gig so far. It was an unbelievable experience. I remember also, one time at Digital Dreams, I was backstage and Deep Dish played one of my tracks. I was on the stage and there was tens of thousands of people, and it’s like, “Wow.” That was 2014 I think, that summer.. ?

Ya, 2014 and that was like the first big thing for me, you know? Because I’d only seen it on YouTube and stuff. And the fact that I was there, To see your track played in front of..

Ya, like super huge festival system, that was really cool.

Sounds like you like to travel too..

Oh ya, I love to travel. Traveling is one of my favourite things to do. Love it, absolutely love it. It’s long trips, but you don’t even feel it because all this adrenaline. Going to Valencia, it was like 14 hours of traveling total and I wasn’t tired at all because you’re getting there and it’s a huge party, you don’t feel none of that stuff. Unless you’re traveling longer than that, then it could get tiring but.. I was in this zone, this special zone. It was unreal. Even the show I played with Dubfire at Stereo was a lot of fun too. Finally playing with Ali [Dubfire].. In that room..

Ya, in that room. Ya, honestly I’ve been to a few clubs around the world and Stereo still has the best sound.

Can you talk about your approach to playing live? You come at this from a production perspective so I was just wondering how you’re feeling about it now -your set up, reading a room, your approach generally..

My live is always evolving so I’ll make a few new tracks, I’ll put some in.. I’m constantly changing. The way I play is I have 16 channels and it’s all kick, bass, hats, snares, percussions, synths, effects, whatever. I can play with all those sliders and faders. Then on top of that I have other effects that I can do. Like, I have a bunch of reverbs, delays and these cool weird effects that I use sometimes. I have a formula or a system, like a base, of a live set. It’s not 100% on the fly, it’s, I would say 50% on the fly. And I have this base so I know what’s going on, so I understand what's going on. Or else it would be complete chaos (laughter). I would be too much looking down like this and I would lose the crowd. So with that formula, on top of that, then I have loads of fun, I take stuff out, put it in, effects, play around.. If I’m really feeling it then it works well. But I always really feel it because it’s all my music. Playing live is completely different. It’s all your material, you know? It feels so much better when you play it. This is me, this is my stuff. I wouldn’t be able to DJ I think, I wouldn’t feel it as much. But that’s just me. It’s cool to see your trajectory because you have come at it from production initially too..

Ya, from the beginning I’ve always been a producer guy. Even from the start I knew I wanted to play live, I didn’t want to DJ. I knew that’s the route I wanted to take. Has your set up changed, do you have a pretty standard set up in terms of what you use?

Ya, I use Livid CNTRL:R. It’s a really good controller. Actually, it's designed by Richie Hawtin. He did a collaboration with Livid. I have this little attachment to the controller with more knobs and faders. Then, I have Maschine Mikro, that’s just like a drum machine, where I have a bunch of claps and snares, rides, percs and a bunch of stuff I can add really quick. That’s it for hardware. Not too too much. I don’t want to overdo it because then it gets too crazy and honestly, with traveling I’m up to here [hand over his head], so much shit oh my god (laughing). So I try to keep it as minimal as possible. Everything works though, so..Is there a piece of advice you’d give to yourself from today to yourself back in 2011 or even before..

Probably don’t stop working! (Laughter) Number one thing. My motto is, I believe in talent, but I believe more in work ethic. So ya, I would tell my younger self, “Don’t stop working.”

That’s awesome.I have a sickening work ethic (laughing). Everyone who has ever been successful works really hard. Works more than the other person..And focuses.. Ya. More focus. That’s what it comes down to at the end of the day. I would tell myself that.

In terms of influences musically, who’s influencing you before compared to now?

Right now? Honestly? (Laughing) That’s a good question.. A lot of people ask me this question.. I don’t listen to techno (laughter). At all. Actually, you’re not the first that’s said that.. of techno producers.. Even Prince lately, I was watching an interview with him and he was asked that question and he said, honestly I don’t listen to much other stuff, I have too much to produce.

Ya.. Honestly, I do not listen to any techno. I haven’t been on Beatport in like 3 years. And I do that because I don’t want to get influenced by other music that’s current or popping right now, but that’s the main reason I don’t listen. Honestly, I don’t really like to listen to techno in my pastime. For me, it’s club music, you know? There’s some, like if you want more down tempo electronic music and more relaxed stuff, then ya maybe I’ll listen to that. I only listen to my music, because (laughing) like Prince, I’m always producing, I always have to listen to my tracks. Fix that, fix this, you know? In my pastime, I listen to blues actually here and there, and some classic rock a bit, like in my car when I’m driving I listen to that. Actually, 90% in my car I listen to my tracks to see how they sound in different environments. But ya, classic rock, some blues. Even some Greek music sometimes, since I’m Greek, I listen to a lot of Greek stuff so.. Ya, never techno actually. It’s funny because sometimes I go out with friends and they’re like, 'Oh man, this track - it’s crazy!', and I'm like, I have no idea what this is. And it’s this huge track that everyone knows (laughing) and I have no idea what it is. And they look at me, they’re like, what?! Are you crazy? (Laughing) They expect me to know, since I’m so into this, you know? They’re like, ‘What, you don’t know what it is?’ I have no idea.

So interesting (Laughter) Super cool.

So what are you looking forward to next?

Really looking forward to Sonar actually, in June. Really excited for that. And I’m going to be sticking around in Europe after that, trying to plan some shows now. Also, getting my U.S. Visa soon, hopefully soon. So then I’ll do some shows in LA and Miami, New York and South America.. Everything one step at a time.

That’s awesome. Amazing. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you for the interview, I appreciate it.

You’re very welcome. That’s awesome. Thank you! Glad we could do this.

Thanks to Johnny for his time and awesome convo, and Zeina Samy for her assistance too.

It was a real honour (and seriously fun) to talk with Dave Angel recently! So pumped, full of life, down to earth, real and inspiring. I felt a depth to him undoubtedly born out of experience, dedication and passion. A true UK techno pioneer with an illustrious, constantly expanding production catalogue, we covered his current set up, production tips and perspectives, life stories, the magic of Day Zero in Tulum, Mexico and much more..

Thank you for taking the time to talk today!

Two of your latest EPs are titled, “Incoming” (Vol 1 & 2), as is your North American tour, can you talk about the significance of that word for you and what it means to you?

Thank you! I haven’t been to North America on a regular basis for many years really. I was there two times last year, two mini tours, so I’m getting back out there, you know? It was a way of saying, I’m incoming! I’m coming to America and Canada to show people what they been missing, basically! (Laughter)

Love it

I’ve had a really rough time over the last 5 years. I got diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and it slowed me down a bit. I also lost my brother as well. My little brother, he’s just a year younger than me.

Sorry about that..

It just really wrecked me. I couldn’t work anyway, I didn’t have the strength to work. I spent almost 5 months in hospital, two major surgeries. I’m back now, I feel good. I’m not feeling any pain now, so that’s why I’m back on the road. I’m trying to rebuild my shit, you know? Because I’ve never stopped making music, I’ve always been making music. But there was a time when I didn’t give my music out to anyone. I just made it and kept it, after Rotation [Records] went down. I just didn’t give my music out to anyone, I kind of went underground.

I think the whole change as well from analog to digital played a big part in it. I found it quite difficult to settle with this whole digital thing. Working with analog you want to see things in the red, it sounds better when it’s distorted in the red, but digital you can’t distort digital so it was a complete reverse engineering that I had to learn. It took a bit of time. I think I’ve found my sound now in the digital realm. And ya, I’m incoming! (Laughter)

Amazing. So digital for both production and DJing, in terms of gear?

Ya, absolutely. I mean, first of all I tried vinyl with CDs. It was okay, but I didn’t feel really on top of it. So then I moved from vinyl because there weren’t enough tracks coming out on vinyl and I like to play fresh music, so I started playing CDs. And that was cool. It was okay for awhile. I mean, it was a bit tedious burning CDs - all that stuff I hate doing but you have to do it. And now it’s moved to USB sticks, and I’m quite cool with those. I quite like them. Ya, so I’m settled in it now. I feel at home with it now.

That’s great to hear..

Sometimes I use my TR-8, which is a clone of the 909/808 drum machine. I use that sometimes depending on if they want me to do it.

How are you finding the new technology with your creative flow as a producer?

I love it because the possibilities are endless now. Whatever you can think of, as long as you’ve got a computer that’s strong enough to do it, you can do it. That’s what you want, you want real fast speeds. As long as you’ve got a nice fast computer, and you don’t really want to overkill yourself with plugins. Just use the ones that you really like, and that really make your sound individual, and stick to those. What I found was that in the early days I had so many plugins, it was like, “Ya, all these plugins!” But, what do I need all these things for? I don’t need a million EQs or a million compressors, I just need one or two to do the things that I need to do. So I got rid of them all. And whatever I want, for whatever sound I’m working on, I’ve got it - it’s right there.

Very cool.

To take it back to New Orchestrations and that piece of work - in response to what would be the quintessential Dave Angel track to own, you mentioned that one. Do you remember what kind of inspirational space you were in when you did that, as compared to more recently as you produce?

I’ve always been pretty one track minded. I’m always in the studio. Mates come around and they’re like, Dave why don’t you come out tonight? But right now, unless I need to leave my studio to go out for any necessities or whatever, I’m not leaving here. I’m constantly working. I would work at least from 2 o’clock in the afternoon until 5 in the morning. Maybe I’ll take a break during the day, but the rest of the time I’m in the studio working, doing stuff. So with the New Orchestrations project, I had these orchestral sounds and I wanted it to be just real and beautiful, really. That’s how I wanted it. I don’t actually remember making the tracks, it was a long time ago. There have been a few [interviewers note : many dozens of] tracks since then. I can remember the studio that I made it in. And I’m looking around the studio now in my head and it was quite limited, I didn’t have that much equipment at the time. Maybe two or three sound modules, maybe three synthesizers, an 808, a sampler and a mixer. But as I said, it doesn’t really matter what equipment you’ve got. Like right now, I’m working on this little 4 gig MacBook Pro [while waiting for his new computer]. You can do your stuff but it just takes a bit longer to do it. Because you’ve got to do it and then bounce it to free up space to allow for the CPU, but the whole thing back in those days you didn’t have CPU or anything like that it was just how many channels you had on the decks.

So your process now is just get into the studio and do the work..

Ya. I’ve always got something that I’m working on. I’ve got some stuff coming out on Bedrock, and hopefully a second release on Crosstown Rebels as well, which is a cool project - really nice. It was inspired by Day Zero. I went down to Day Zero in Tulum, Mexico. It was amazing. I’m getting goose bumps now just thinking about it. It was the greatest party I’ve ever seen in my life, really.

What made it so great?

It was the whole suspense, you know? I didn’t know what to expect. So we went - we get picked up by this shuttle and he drives for 45 minutes down into the jungle, deep into the jungle. So we get to the edges of the jungle. And there’s this little spanish dude and he’s like, Arriba arriba! And he’s cutting down bushes and stuff and it’s pitch black, you can’t hear any music or see any light or anything like that. And you’re walking for maybe 10 minutes and you see a floodlight - and that’s where you go and pick up your passes. So then, there’s loads of people there and I don’t know what to expect from this party. What’s it going to be like? Is it going to be a load of crusty people in some dirty.. I didn’t know, I thought it was going to be a little shady. So you pick up your pass and you start walking through and there’s little lanterns lit up, you know, spaces where you can see what’s going down, but you still can’t really hear any music and you can’t really see anything. And you’re walking for another 15 minutes. And all of a sudden you hear the music. Boom, boom boom. And then, what I saw was just unbelievable - I’d never seen anything like that before, in a jungle. It was done up so nice and had white sand on the floor and Felix Da Housecat was playing. I went up high to the edge of the valley to have a look at it to see what was going down. People were dressed up like Jesus ’n shit. I’ve never seen anything like it, you know. (Laughing)

Epic!

I’ve never experienced a vibe like that before. It was almost magical. Like it was a whole new world. I had such a good time. So, ya I took inspiration from there and made two tracks from that experience. I get inspired from anything really, this conversation with you, a conversation with anybody, you know?

And just hop in the studio and translate it..

Sometimes I come in the studio and it just flows. Sometimes you could be in there, and you’re searching and you’ve got something in your head, and you just can’t translate it. You just keep searching and searching. My first studio, I called it The Dark Alley because you just never knew what was going to come up on you. It was like a surprise and you just didn’t know. For me, it’s creating something from nothing. I love it. It’s just the buzz, and you sit back and press play, and you listen to that track and you think, ya I feel it. And it’s yours! It’s mine, you know? I made it. But then, I give it to my manager and he sorts it and racks it all up and then it’s no longer mine. It’s for everybody else to listen to, it’s no longer my baby. It’s for everybody else to share and check it out. It’s so personal, the music.

Can you talk about your perspective on music as a journey or story? And the whole point behind why you’re doing this for yourself or for others?

For me, music is a way of life. It’s a relationship. It’s like you meet people that come and go in your life, so many people come and go. You meet wonderful people, you meet some not so good people, but the one thing about music is that she’ll always be there for me. No matter what. Even when I’m at my lowest. When I was ill, sick, I’d put my headphones on and she was always there for me. The way I look at music is as a love affair.

That’s incredible.

I also remember my bedroom was very near the living room as a kid growing up, so I could hear my Dad playing music at night, entertaining friends, smoking weed and just doing stuff, you know? I could hear just crazy music and I’d always drift off and paint these images in my head about the music. Traditional instruments, they were okay but they weren’t like “Wow” for me. When I heard synthesizers, Herbie Hancock and Weather Report and shit like that it was like, what is this? That for me was just the sound of controlled electricity, really. That really turned me on, you know? Because that’s what it is.

Wow - so dope - controlled electricity, haven’t heard those two words together in that way..

(Laughing)

You played drums at 8 years old, what did your Dad play?

He played everything. He was a session player. So he’d go to the studio and sit around and wait for whatever they wanted. A bassist, a guitarist, he could do it all. Just give him the music and he’d work it out, go in, record it and get paid. All of us were into music apart from my brother. Ya, music was around the house everyday. My Mom, bless her, she didn’t have any kind of connection with the music. She’d write books and read a hell of a lot and so she used to go off in her own little world and we’re there banging away making noise. It was a way of life for us.

And then you discovered controlled electricity..

Ya, I suppose it started through DJing really. When I was a kid I wouldn’t be buying sweets or whatever, I’d be buying records.

We started a band when I was a kid, because I was a drummer. We had a bassist, guitarist, vocalist, backing vocalist but there was always a problem. Everybody couldn’t make it to rehearsal that day, or someone was ill, or some shit like that. There was always some sort of thing that was messing up rehearsals. When this whole technology thing came in and became accessible, at a cheaper price so you could buy a sequencer and a drum machine, for me that’s when I thought, you know what, forget them boys, this is what I’m doing. I didn’t need them to do it, I could do it all myself. And that’s how it all started.

Love that story. I’ve heard that a lot as a theme in this industry, where the band thing doesn’t work because people don’t show up, and they’re like, I’m just going to do it myself.

Any life lessons you want to share?

Never start something you love and not finish it because you’re going to regret it.

That’s it right there..

I learned that in a couple ways as a kid as I was growing up. One was where I used to skate. And I was pretty good, I used to skate for a team called Benji Boards and I was often at the skate park and stuff. But one day I fell off my board and broke my arm and I didn’t go back to the skate park for about 6 months, I just didn’t go. And when I went back the dudes who weren’t skating as well as I was skating, they were doing some incredible stuff and I thought, I wish I’d never stopped skating. I used to be way beyond that. So that’s sort of a lesson I learned - to never stop. And that’s maybe why I put so much love into this and so much time because it can’t part with me now. Some people refer to it as work, I don’t.

You saw the power of sticking to something..

Ya for sure.

So for you it’s not work.

No way (laughter). I love it. I love it. I’m in bed and I can’t wait to get back and hear my track. (Laughter)

What do you think is the most important skill to have as a DJ?

Well, there are a few skills. Preparation is key. You got to prepare your stuff. A lot of people think you just turn up and play a lot of records. It doesn’t go like that. I spend maybe two, two and a half days going through promos. Just listening to nothing but promos, to new stuff people send. And the stuff I like I put into a folder, and the stuff I don’t like I’m ruthless you know, I just throw them straight in the trash. Otherwise, you’re going to have too much music and you don’t know what they are. Everything gets labeled and they get put in their correct folders so I can go to them any time I want. And then you just mess around with tracks and see what works with what and just get to know them. Get to know your tracks. Nowadays, it’s lucky because it shows the waveform, you can see the break or you can see everything, whereas back in the day on vinyl you gotta know, because you can’t see it, the groove. You gotta know the break and what comes after the break and mix it correctly in the right spot. You’ve got to practice. And just love what you do. Or the people will pick up on it, they’ll get the vibe you’re not enjoying it.

What’s next for you? What are you most looking forward to when it comes to music, life?

I can’t wait to get my new computer, it’s coming in a couple days. I’m really looking forward to this North American tour. And it’s my birthday in a few weeks so I’m looking forward to that. And I haven’t been to Toronto in I’m not quite sure how long.

Is there anything else you wanted to add that’s meaningful to you that you wanted to say, to the people, your fans?

Well, I’d just like to say really, thank you for the love. Even you, for yourself, for wanting to interview me. I mean, it means a lot to me. Because as I said, you’re in there doing your stuff and you don’t really realize that people are checking you out and it’s nice, it’s really nice that people appreciate my stuff and it keeps me motivated. It keeps me moving. Ya, I want to thank everybody for that, for sure. And come out, come to the party! Come check me out! (Laughter)! [Toronto - check him out at Cabal, Saturday, May 21st]

Love it. It’s going to be great. I’m so glad we got the chance to talk today. Thank you so much!

Thank you!

Many thanks to Dave for the awesome conversation, and Jennifer from Most Wanted Entertainment for setting this up!

It was inspiring to talk with Julia Govor ! I'd seen her at The BPM Festival and Awakenings NYC earlier this year, and wanted to learn more about not only her music and creative process, but her unquenchable vibe and energy. Here we cover her upbringing in Russia, her move to New York, working with Ricardo Villalobos and Kamran Sadeghi, production, inspiration and much in between..

It’s such a cool name and idea - what does it mean to you when you think of it? Why “Open Possibility”?

It’s such a good question. I really feel that thinking too much is not a healthy thing to do. What’s helped me to be who I am today, and to stay positive and to bring light to my friends when they have darkness and to support them, it’s because of this idea that life is truly full of possibilities. Life is full of open possibility. This specific track, this release, which is remixed by two of my favorite producers, is a complete release in that every single person can hear something they are looking for. We made this music to share it with the world, with people who are looking for this. Through music or through the name of the song. Like, whatever is happening with you, today, tomorrow or after tomorrow, bad or good things, it’s just another possibility to live. Don't give up.

I love it

To live.. To live in the present and be who you are, you know? Because you can’t change in one night. You can’t change who you’ve been, what you’ve lived for 25, 35, 17 years, you know? You can’t. But you should use this possibility now to live.

Amazing, love that. What did you learn from Ricardo?

The way how he treats his friends, how he treats his fans. He has the most amazing memory. I’ve never met anyone with such a good memory and knowledge. He remembers everything you told him 5 years ago. A fantastic memory. The most important part is how he connects with people. That’s what makes him special and we can hear it through his sound. Also, how he has all of these memories from people, all of this connection. He sucks it all into himself and then he goes through his music, and then they feel all of this weird, true, fantastic groove. It’s like Ricardo Villalobos for me, he is a groove. The Groove. He is a real groove for me!

It’s like his remix for you, really deep..

Yes! It has so much to it, it has so many different directions. Rhythm on top of rhythm. All the time when I hear his music, old, new, unreleased, or when I go to his studio and I see how he works, I just watch him - the way he records sound, and the way he uses his modulars and his drum machines, is magic. Ricardo is the groove. He is the Magician.

Do you have any mentors? How did you learn how to produce?

Kamran Sadeghi is my mentor in many ways. He is a music composer and engineer who has 17 years of experience. He’s worked for so many artists for the last 10 years. And the way how he cares about all of them and how they care about him, it says a lot. He taught me. I learned how to use Ableton Live before, in Moscow, but the real school of pure production, I learned from Sadeghi. I was visiting his studio where he was working, everyday for about 6 months, and just watched him, quiet. The feeling was, "It doesn't matter who you are, all that matters is who you would love to be.”

When I moved to New York, I gave up many things; I left Moscow, I left my friends, I left my career there. I moved to another country where I didn’t know anyone. I spent all of my time to learn, to listen, to hear, to work on my tracks and sound. I’m still learning. Production doesn't have a limit, so I’m listening to my intuition and all my production is based on it.

Do you find what inspires you now is different than what inspired you before?

When I was younger, like maybe 20 years old, I liked to go to clubs and concerts to see different shows. Now, it’s still music, but my deep connecting with nature is the most powerful inspiration. When I start working on production it’s sort of like a meditation - you forget about everything. Really. You have a good mood, or you have a bad mood and when you start working on sound, when you’re in the zone, you don’t think about anything, you’re just listening to sound. It’s just coming through. Listening, listening and listening. Then, you like some sound, there’s something you wanna change, you wanna keep it, or you like this melody or maybe it doesn’t work, I wanna change the notes - you’re just listening. And after, when you hear it proper, when you’ve finished your track or some part of it, you’re kind of like, oh, this reminds me of melted iceberg.. or of stars falling from the sky when you’re looking out the window of the airplane. Dreams and nature is my biggest inspiration. I am very connected with Nature.

That feeling!

Ya that feeling!

Did you go through a significant shift in your life where things started to come together a lot more, or shifted your perspective at all? Because you are a really tapped in, tuned in kind of a person, I find. Were you always that way? Like, appreciating life and that whole thing? Pretty energetic and having this perspective that you have now?

I think so!

It’s been a part of who you are?

I think I’ve always been like this!

Like tapped in to energy and aware..

I wake up and I’m full on. My parents put me in music school, in vocal classes because I had so much energy when I was a child. I was burning fire in the kindergarten. I was going on the trees, I cut the hair of my childhood friends without asking permission from their parents. I have always so much energy. Too much. It was crazy and my parents didn’t know what to do with me. I didn’t listen to them. I didn’t listen to anyone. Then they put me into music school. They thought maybe I could use my energy for something more productive. It was kind of a psychological thing of why I was doing this. I was looking for attention, you know? My parents were military soldiers, they were never at home. I was raised by my oldest sister and I always wanted to have something that would get their attention, their love, but they were so busy because they always worked. And so they signed me up to the music school. There I felt quite right within myself.

The music teacher was tough. She had big glasses and if you did something wrong she’d come with a wooden pointer and she’d punch you. She was really rough. I was afraid of her. And I listened to her. We would prepare a full program for Saturday concerts at our military concert hall. I really liked it. My parents were so proud of me. I am very thankful to my parents that they made me take those classes.

Today, when I perform on stage as a DJ, I’m always thinking about my childhood, I have the same feeling, I am always nervous first 20 minutes. Only difference is I ask for less lights. I like to mix and dance in the darkness. I prefer to get attention from my sound, not from who is on stage. Club shows is not a theatre, that’s a distraction. I don’t want this. I like to go through hearts of people from my sound. Because music has the biggest power. You know what I mean?!

Totally. So dope.

So basically, the answer is - yes, I was always like this! (Laughter) Little bit longer story but.. !

What do you think are the biggest factors that have contributed to your success? And how things are going for you right now, in music and in life.. What has created the success that you’ve had so far?

Do I have success?!

I think so!

Really!

You’re working with some cool people and you’ve created some really cool productions..

I don’t think it’s success. It’s just the way how I like to express myself. This is my work, this is normal when you doing it more then 10 years, right? But I feel like I am a beginner. Seriously. I want to feel like I’m a beginner and I do everything spontaneously, based on my intuition and full of enthusiasm. I don’t want to go to that zone where I feel like, ‘Oh, I’m successful’ or, 'What will they think of me if I do that' or, 'Oh they won’t understand me.' No! I don’t want to think like this. I want to feel like I’m a beginner and every day I do something new to support music and art. This is what keeps me young. Again, come back to the “Open Possibility” perspective, I don’t want to think too much about this. I want to have open possibility for whatever I am doing today. Does that make sense?!

Totally. Ya love it.

And I think everyone should feel the same. Endless beginner! I really don’t like it when people are, oh but he plays techno, oh she plays house, oh he works with this DJ or she works with this DJ, or today she’s there, tomorrow he is here, or "oh today she has horses in her hair"! You should just do whatever you want, that you feel is right for you today, tomorrow, right now. I know it's hard, but this is exactly what makes you a true artist.

So cool. It’s like success is just how other people perceive you rather than the work that you’re doing.

I’m going to use that line, you just said exactly what I mean!

Ya, I hear you. I understand. That’s super cool. What are you most looking forward to now for yourself? Music, life..

I want to play as many shows as I can because I love it. I am not afraid to experiment with my sets and my sound. I have energy I can share with people who need it. I know there is someone in the room who understands exactly why I am doing it. I would love to continue to collaborate with other artists, musicians and be inspired to make my own music. I don’t know where I’m going to be in 10 years. I don’t know this, nobody knows. But I hope with the music, with my ideas and with my love, which I have at the moment from the people around me and the people at my gigs, I will find a way to stay focused and healthy.

Amazing.

I also have a release coming out on Sven Vath's label, Cocoon, in May. It’s actually a collaboration with Kamran Sadeghi. We made it in 2011. The lyrics in that song are my favourite. I wanna just sing it again and again. Pete Tong recently played it in his BBC Radio One show:

Was awesome to talk with SHADED for Decoded Magazine - loved this conversation. Got to hear about west coast culture, his production style and talked a little yoga too:) Was a really cool interview with a special artist and person. Check it here!

Really excited to have caught up with DOSEM a few weeks ago for Decoded Magazine North America - was such a great conversation! What a fantastic producer, DJ and person - very excited for him and where he's going. He'll be at The BPM Festival, and Output this Saturday for all the New Yorkers in the house:))